Draymond Green has provided his thoughts on the Warriors’ defense following Golden State’s 130-129 lead. Losing the Orlando Magic in Reconstruction Thursday night at the Amway Center.
Warriors defensive anchor Green spoke to reporters after the game and said the team needs to figure out how to defend at a familiar level.
“I say it again. This is our defense,” said Green. “We have to fix our defenses.”
The 32-year-old also noted how Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry paired up to shoot 15-of-30 from 3-point range. Green added that if each of them shoots well from distance, they can win any game.
Still, the Warriors lost four games in a row, dropping the defending champions to 3-6 in nine games of the 2022-23 NBA season.
As has been the case so far this season, Golden State’s defense has weakened. It was the 3rd quarter of Thursday night’s Magic game.
After trailing by as much as 16 points in three minutes of the third quarter, the Warriors scored 77 points in the second half and 43 points in the third quarter alone.
Orlando shot 62.5 percent from the field (15-of-24), shot 13 free throws and sunk 10 in the third. Warriors, again, Couldn’t defend without foulscommitted 10 fouls in the frame.
Across the second half, the Magic shot 55.8% from the field, went 14-6 from 3-point range, and made an impressive 28 free-throw attempts, recording 23.
This makes it difficult to win any game, regardless of who you are playing against.
Additionally, Green spoke about the Warriors’ slow start to games, commenting that every game they played seemed to result in their opponents scoring 30 points in the first quarter.
As a result, it becomes difficult for the opposing team to get into the rhythm and for Golden State to respond in turn. This is the problem.
“Everyone’s an NBA team, everybody’s an NBA player, they’re getting paid to play basketball, make sure they’re comfortable and the rest of the game has to deal with that.” concluded Green.
Related: Draymond points to big problem with Dubs fouling issue
With Warriors in pain What feels like a championship hangover — According to coach Steve Kerr — And Green has identified what needs to be fixed, and Golden State knows what needs to change if it wants to start winning.
However, it remains to be seen when the team will actually make the change.
