Draymond Green made his return on Monday — and true to form, it was not a quiet one.
The Warriors star, back from a 16-game absence stemming from an NBA suspension for hitting Suns center Jusuf Nurkic on Dec. 12, entered the game off the bench against the Grizzlies to boos from the Memphis crowd.
Green played 23 minutes in the 116-107 loss, scoring seven points — including a 3-pointer on his first shot of the night, punctuated with a visceral shout — to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
Still, the veteran’s presence couldn’t help the struggling Warriors, who went 8-8 without him during his second suspension of the season.
Memphis, missing its top five scorers due to injury, used a 10-1 run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to pull away for the win, with Green honing on the problem.
“Until every guy takes pride in themselves, and wants to stop the guy in front of him, we’ll suck,” he said. “We can’t guard nobody. Until we guard, we’ll lose.”
Vince Williams Jr. scored 24 points, GG Jackson added a career-high 23 for the Grizzlies. Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 18 points despite shooting 4 of 20 from the field.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 26 points, and Jonathan Kuminga had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins scored 16.
Coach Stever Kerr was glad to have Green back in the lineup after he was reinstated on Jan. 3.
“He’s our emotional leader, and he brings the fire and energy that we need,” Kerr said before the game. “We have a relatively quiet team, so his leadership is important to us.”
Green entered the game averaging 9.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists but has let his emotions get the better of him this season, missing a combined 21 games with his Nurkic suspension following a five-game ban for putting Kings center Rudy Gobert in a headlock.
Golden State, currently 12th in the Western Conference standings, could use a boost from Green — and he’s still not shy about sharing his feelings about the game.
“Individuals make up a team and individually, our defense sucks, so in turn, our team defense sucks,” he said. “If we got guys that’ll take pride in themselves and play defense… then it is solvable. If guys won’t take pride, it’s not. It’s very simple. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out.”
— With AP
