Dallas Mavs Must Adjust to Draymond Green's Impact in Golden State Warriors Rematch

Warriors star Draymond Green played against the Mavs for the first time this season and proved to be a major X-factor.

Apr 2, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

SAN FRANCISCO — The Dallas Mavericks entered Tuesday's 104-100 loss against the Golden State Warriors holding a 2-0 lead in the season series. However, there was a significant difference in the third meeting between these teams: Draymond Green was available to play.

The Warriors have experienced a defensive resurgence with Green back in the lineup. The Mavs were held to just 100 points despite being led by two superstars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who had won seven consecutive games and 11 of their previous 12. Green wanted to set the tone defensively amid a stretch of ranking behind just the Miami Heat in defensive rating over the last five games.

"We know everything stops and starts with our defense," Green said. "On the defensive end, we have to make sure teams feel us and let us dictate what we want the offense to do, as opposed to letting them dictate to us. ... I think our defense throughout the last six, seven games [has] been constant. In order to continue to get the season where we want it to get -- to the playoffs and to try and make a run — that has to be that way."

Apr 2, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps the most critical play of the night involved Green as the Warriors needed to protect their 98-92 lead with under two minutes left to play.

Green handled guarding 2-with-1 with Irving trying to make a play with the ball while Daniel Gafford made himself available for a drop-off pass. Green managed to recover and focused on pressuring the finish but surprised himself by coming up with a pivotal block.

“Initially just stepping up and make Kyrie make a decision," Green said. "If he's going to shoot the ball, I’m in a spot where I can get a contest, but also knowing and understanding that Gafford is right there for the drop-off so I couldn't over-commit. He dropped it off, if I'm honest I didn't really expect to get the block, I just wanted to try to alter the shot. But was able to come up with a block.”

The sequence is one of the many examples of Green's incredible defensive impact. Despite having to account for Irving's versatile scoring prowess and an elite paint finisher in Gafford, Green did more than hold his own on a night he racked up four steals in addition to the block.

"You just want to keep the passer guessing," Green said. "If I can keep the passer guessing, it allows you to cover up a mistake. You can guard both of them ... if you can successfully guard a two-on-one more often than not, it's great for your defense."

After Green hauled in the defensive rebound, he ended up being a needed relief option on the other end as a short-roller to finish at the rim, putting Golden State up by eight. The sequence of events made it highly improbable for Dallas to acheive a serious rallying effort to close out the game.

Doncic, who finished with a 30-point triple-double, credited Green's momentum-sealing block for being a game-changing outcome for Golden State. Given how impactful he is offensively, too, the Slovenian superstar praised Green for having a "very big" impact on the game.

"That block was big," Doncic said of Green's block. "He's a defensive guy. He controls their offense, he leads the guys. I think he had a very big impact today."

Kyrie Irving has gone through no shortage of battles against Green throughout his career, including 12 of his 29 matchups being in the NBA Finals. After scoring 27 points, Irving noted the value Green brings to the Warriors, describing him as someone who always is doing the dirty work on both ends while doing so in a very high IQ way.

“He’s always mucking the game up. That’s always been Dray’s personality. And that’s not just on the physical end, it’s the IQ," Irving said of Green. "He has a very, very high IQ. He’s been a winner for a large portion of his NBA career. He garners the respect of a lot of his peers."

Green stands at 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and is strong enough to handle bigger players while being quick enough to get stops against shifty guards. He is also a technician positionally as an off-ball defender and when guarding screening actions. His teammate, Andrew Wiggins, describes him as a defensive genius.

“Draymond (Green) is special, he is a defensive mastermind. He is everywhere, he has everyone’s back," Wiggins said. "That gives everyone else the advantage to just play free defensively, when you have Draymond behind you. You know that he is going to pick up any slack on anything that happens.”

Irving praised Green's ability to use his physical intangibles to his advantage as a defender as a tweener, even when he has to handle guarding more athletic players. The physicality Green plays with makes it more challenging for any matchup.

"When he’s going against guys that are a little bit more athletic, he uses his brain a little bit more. And when he’s going against smaller guys, he uses his physicality," Irving said. "So he knows how to play kind of the in-between game on the defensive end.

While much of the focus will be placed on Green's block, he proved instrumental offensively by serving as a relief option as a short roller on a night Stephen Curry struggled to score — totaling 13 points on 5 of 18 shooting — as the frequent focus of the Mavs' blitzing efforts. Irving commended Green for being a masterful passer who gets the ball into his teammates' shot pocket.

"Offensively, he makes those guy’s jobs a lot easier. Just putting the ball in the right spot," Irving said. "I think the difference between someone getting a great pass and getting a good pass – I think he’s mastered getting those guys great passes and mastered hitting them in their shot pockets, so easier shots. Great screener too.”

Before Friday's rematch, Mavs coach Jason Kidd emphasized reviewing how they handled guarding Curry and Green in pick-and-roll situations to make it tougher on Golden State next time. It's easier said than done, considering the countless defensive schemes and matchups the two have encountered during their decorated tenure.

"That's something that he has perfected, being able to play make out of the short roll," Kidd said of Green. "He found a way to score and find and find guys and so whenever you put two on the ball with Steph, you can't when Draymond's involved in that pick-and-roll. We just have to be a little bit better.

"We play those guys here shortly at the end of this week, and we can see what we can do better to make it tougher on him," Kidd continued. "He's seen every defense, and Steph has seen every defense, so we just have to try and keep those guys off balance."