MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green returned Monday from an indefinite suspension but couldn't lift the Warriors up against a depleted Memphis Grizzlies team, falling 116-107.
Green, whose absence extended for 16 games, came off the bench in hopes of maintaining some of the momentum that the Warriors starting lineup has achieved during the past two games without him.
When Green checked in at 6:32 of the first quarter, he was showered with boos from Memphis fans. The crowd continued to harass him every time he touched the ball.
Green finished with seven points on 2-of-4 shooting, including two 3-pointers, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal in 23 minutes.
“It was fun to get back on the court,” Green said. “Getting the opportunity to play basketball, it's always fun. It was a little weird coming out of the tunnel shooting and doing the pregame, but then it just settled down.”
“I suspect [the minutes] “It will progress very quickly, but until that happens I will try to be the best I can in the minutes I have and bring a spark to this team.”
The Warriors were hoping that with Green back, they would be able to build on the improved defensive habits they picked up during the first two games of their four-game road trip.
But it was quite the opposite. Golden State allowed Memphis to shoot 20 of 54 from 3 — the most 3-pointers the Warriors have given up this season — and go 32 of 40 from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, the Warriors scored just 10 points and went 9-of-10 from the stripe. The free throw attempt differential of less than 30 is the second-worst in a game for the Warriors under Steve Kerr, according to ESPN's Stats & Information research.
“[The defensive plan] “He's down when it comes to pride,” Green said. “You have to be proud of yourself as a man, and I'm not going to let anyone score. But our qualifying was so poor, and the turnovers were so slow, so there's no pride. Until everyone is proud of themselves and wants to stop the guy in front of them, we're going to be bad.”
Without five of their top six players, the Grizzlies were playing for house money. The warriors knew that. That's what they harped on during their pre-match meetings. They knew every player wearing a Memphis uniform would be looking for their shot to stick it past the Warriors, so they had to be prepared.
But they weren't.
“Their game plan was pretty simple. Shoot as many three-pointers as possible and get into transition as much as possible,” Kerr said. “And then, when we fouled out 25 times versus 21, that's really the story…they gained confidence as they went along. All these guys are in the NBA. We tell them that before every game like this. These guys are in the NBA.” For professional basketball. “They lit up the NBA from the 3. They knew they had to do it and we knew they had to do it. We didn't play the game that could stop them from doing that. “
The lack of confidence that plagued the Warriors over their eight games last week came home to them. The team was harping on how lack of communication was the biggest problem. Green doesn't disagree but says it starts on an individual level before it spreads into a team-wide problem — which includes talking about defense.
“Individuals make a team. Our individual defense is bad, so our team defense is bad,” Green said. “If we have guys that take pride in themselves and play defense, one by one no matter how many players we have, it's solvable. If the players don't take pride in defense, it's not. It's very simple.”
Wednesday night marks the Warriors' 41st game, officially reaching the halfway point.
No longer able to use the “it's early” excuse, the Warriors realize they are in no position to wait out their problems. Meanwhile, Golden State believes it has enough time to solve its problems.
But how to do that remains the question. So far, the Warriors don't have an answer.
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