Kendra Andrews ESPN11:26 PM ET3 Minute Read
SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green knew he had to get his team right in the second quarter of Tuesday night’s Golden State Warriors game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
In the midst of an overwhelming first half in a competition that had a major impact on the playoff race, the Warriors lacked energy and focus. They had committed 14 turnovers up to this point. They couldn’t slow down New Orleans. They were 19 points behind.
So Green lit a fire.
“Draymond helped us win tonight,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr after the 120-109 win. “Just the intensity, the frustration early on with the way we were playing. Angry at the world, yelling at everyone – their bank, our bank, me – and frankly, we deserve it.”
Green’s first spark came at 3:45 in the second quarter when he picked up his 17th technical foul.
After Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram drove off the perimeter to the basket, Green appeared to drop his shoulder and shove Ingram. As Ingram walked back onto the pitch from the baseline, he approached Green and the two exchanged words, leading to some nudges.
They were given technical fouls, and Green was also rated a flagrant foul 1 for the shove.
Green will be fined $5,000 if the technical error is not resolved within the next 24 hours — which Green believes should happen. But even if he didn’t, it was worth it to him.
“It was perfect. Perfectly executed,” Green said. “In the first 18 minutes we looked dead. We had to find some energy somewhere. It wasn’t going to come easy, especially after we lost the game like we did in the last game; that can continue. I had a feeling that it was so. I knew it.” we had to do something, and do it quickly, before the game got out of hand.”
About 20 seconds later, Green almost got another technical error after colliding with Herbert Jones. Driving to the layup, Green collided with Jones and landed on top of him. The two became entangled before being separated.
There were more shoves from several players before the referee and team security broke up the scrum. After a long video briefing, no technical fouls were scored.
“I have to play with the same intensity that I try to play with every time I step on the pitch,” Green said. “I can’t worry about that. If I want to change my intensity level, why would I be outside?”
Green frequently says things to get his teammates going. He believed his teammates had his back until an altercation with Jordan Poole earlier this season cast him in doubt.
“At the point where I’m going to spread like that, hope the guys will support me,” Green said. “If not, then our season is over anyway.”
After Green’s collision with Jones, Stephen Curry joined the scrum, yelling back at Pelicans players and throwing in a few shoves.
“He knows the boys support him,” Curry said. “I am certain [Green] wouldn’t go to an island like this if he didn’t have that confidence. … There are times when I need to keep him at bay and bring him back when things go the wrong way, in a sense that I need to focus on just winning.
The Warriors were as much as 20 points behind — 17 in the first half. But they surpassed the Pelicans in the second half, 74-46, including 70% shooting en route to their second-biggest comeback of the season.
Curry scored 22 of his 38 points in the second half. He scored or assisted 58 of 120 points for the Warriors — 48% — including 37 of 74 (50%) in the second half.
He was the primary source of the Warriors’ shot creations, hitting 8 of 14 from the ground in dribbling while his teammates converted 8 of 11 from his passes.
“When I turned it up a notch, [Curry] cranked it up two notches,” Green said. “…We all hopped in line and followed him, and he was locked up. Nobody stopped him.”
Tuesday’s game had playoff energy, whether it was the freshness of both teams, the atmosphere at the Chase Center, or the importance of the game to both teams.
The win moved Golden State back to sixth place in the Western Conference with a half-game advantage over the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves.
But every game in the regular season will have a postseason vibe and pressure.
“It feels like we’ve been in a playoff mood for a couple of weeks,” Curry said. “The only difference is that you play a different team every night. But it’s the same kind of adrenaline rush that we get. Every game is important.”