Draymond Green Defends Warriors’ Defense Of Lakers Stars Despite Game 4 Defeat

Golden State's All-Defensive Team power forward explains strategy.

Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green, who earlier today was named to his fourth All-Defensive Second Team (and eighth All-Defensive Team overall), took to his highly entertaining podcast, The Draymond Green Show, to defend his team's decision to ratchet up the defensive pressure on Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis throughout the fourth quarter of LA's 104-101 Game 4 win. 

With the Warriors preoccupied, Lakers reserve shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV almost outscored Golden State singlehandedly in the frame. Walker notched 15 points as the team's surprise go-to scorer down the stretch. The Warriors as a team had 17.

That victory moved Los Angeles to the brink of a return to the Western Conference Finals, as the club now holds a massive 3-1 advantage over the defending champs.

"You tip your hat to Lonnie Walker. That's a guy who's been in and out of the lineup… On the biggest stage, he came through. We were right there at tying the series up 2-2 and he came through and he beat us."

— Draymond Green

(via @TheVolumeSports)pic.twitter.com/CRFKND2VWR

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 10, 2023

"I thought we did an incredible job of wearing both AD and LeBron down," Green opined. "They played a ton of minutes, very high usage. In turn, they went to Lonnie Walker in the fourth quarter. Most cases, that's a win -- and it's still a win, by the way." 

"Like, if you can stop LeBron what shots he wants, stop AD from getting what shots he wants, Lonnie Walker beats you, you've kind of got to live with it," Green continued. "Lonnie Walker had a huge fourth quarter: 15 points in the quarter, which was all the points he scored in the game. And you've got to tip your hat to him. That's a brother who stayed ready, regardless of what's happened on that roster."

"You tip your hat to Lonnie Walker. That's a guy who's been in and out of the lineup," Green noted. "On the biggest stage, he came through. We were right there at tying the series up 2-2 and he came through and he beat us."

After feeling the rotational squeeze in most of the playoffs, Walker was elevated above Troy Brown Jr. and Malik Beasley in Darvin Ham's bench rotation across the past two games. He's averaging 13.5 points on .667/.429/1.000 shooting splits, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals, 1.0 assists and 0.5 blocks in those two contests, both Lakers wins.

Green has also stubbornly stumped for his team's defensive approach following the Warriors' 127-97 blowout Game 3 loss to Los Angeles. Whether or not head coach Steve Kerr feels similarly about a strategy that does not seem to be helping the club is anyone's guess.

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