Draymond Green has said the Warriors would be fine despite a disappointing loss at home to start the NBA 2022 Finals.
Draymond Green thinks the Golden State Warriors will be fine despite the unusual collapse to lose Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. In his post-game interview, Green didn't seem too worried about the loss despite struggles individually and from the team. Green only scored four points while taking 12 shots in the game. Green talked about Boston's three-point shooting and, in particular, the shooting from Al Horford, Derrick White, and Marcus Smart, who combined for 15 of 23 from behind the arc. The Warriors seemed to control the game with a double-digit lead to end the third quarter. However, a staggering 40-16 run in the fourth led to a Celtics win.
Draymond said in his post-game press conference, "They stayed within striking distance, and they made shots late. They hit 21 threes, and Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Derrick White combined for 15. Those guys are good shooters, but they combined for 15-for-23 from those guys. We'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll figure out how to stop them from getting those threes and take them away. I don't think it was a rhythm thing. We dominated the game for the first 41 and 42 minutes, so we'll be fine."
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Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr was full of praise for the Celtics' fourth-quarter run while also singling out his team's execution to start the fourth as a reason for its collapse. He said, "We had a couple of turnovers and bad possessions offensively, and they just pounced. They took advantage of every opportunity and moved the ball well. [If] you make five, six threes in a row in the fourth quarter, that's tough to overcome. We'll watch the tape, learn from it, and see what we can do better. My gut reaction [on] what I just witnessed was they just came in, played a hell of a fourth quarter, and you've got to give them credit. It's pretty much as simple as that."