In a conversational interview with former NBA guard Baron Davis, Draymond Green recounts the 2016 Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder, focusing on the pivotal Game 6 in which Klay Thompson scored 41 points and hit 11 three‑pointers. Green explains the Warriors’ defensive tactics throughout the series—initially leaving Andre Roberson unguarded, using a “gimmick” to force Tony Allen off the floor, and later switching to straight‑up guarding of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant in Games 5 and 6. He describes the momentum shift when Thompson, confident and aggressive, sparked the comeback, and cites specific statistics (15 assists, 4 steals, 0 turnovers) that illustrate the team’s performance. The conversation then drifts into a replay controversy from an earlier playoff game involving Baron Davis’s buzzer‑beater, the introduction of replay review in the NBA, and a brief speculation about a potential Thunder‑Pacers Finals, which Green declines to predict. Throughout, Green mixes tactical analysis, personal anecdotes, and reflections on the broader 2016 NBA season, including the Warriors’ eventual loss in the Finals after a 3‑1 lead.
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On this date in 2016, the great Klay Thompson put a remarkable performance together, scoring 41 points, hitting 11 3-pointers in Game 6 against the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. Y'all were down 3-2, playing in OKC. What was that like? That was one of my favorite games to watch.
You know what's crazy with that series? So if you go back and watch that series, to start that series, we outsmarted ourselves. What we did was we did not guard Andre Roberson at all. Literally didn't guard him. The guy that helped on KD and Russ who was guarding Andre Roberson and literally left him wide open. And it's a gimmick, right? We actually did it the year before to Tony Allen in a different way though, where we put me on Marc Gasol and I guarded him straight up. We put Harrison Barnes on, in 2015, we put Harrison Barnes on Z-Bo and just all out front no matter where he goes. And then we put Bogut, literally, behind Z-Bo to help Harrison and kind of play Tony Allen off the floor. Once we played Tony Allen off the floor from the offensive end, their defense couldn't survive because Tony would just, Tony would just fuck your whole offense up. Like Tony Allen, one of the best defenders that I've played against in my time in the league. Tony Allen's insane. Facts.
Killer.
Facts. Oh my God. And so offense, we used the offensive end, Tony's lack of ability to shoot it, to force them to have to take him off the floor because they couldn't score enough. And then, then they couldn't compete enough defensively against our, our offense. And so that's how we end up coming back from down 2-1 in that series and winning. Fast forward to this year, 2016, one year later, we're playing against OKC. We dunk our ropes and it works. And then they figure it out 'cause it's a gimmick and it doesn't work anymore and they figure it out. And so now we roll into game 5 and we like, yo, it's 3-1, we going home for game 5. What, like, what we gonna do? And we all were, from Steve down, Steph, myself, we're all like, yo, Let's just guard them straight up. Make Russ and KD beat us and take everybody else away. Because when we've played this team and we've made Russ and KD beat us and take everybody else away, it's hard. Like—
Yeah.
So we gonna make Russ, like we, we guard, we gonna guard them straight up. We gonna put Klay back on Russ. We gonna put Andre on KD and we just gonna guard them straight up and they gotta beat us. Then we won game 5. Comeback game 6, back against the wall. And Klay, bro, the whole day Klay like, "Draymond, I got us. Like, there's no chance we losing this game, bro." You know, Klay get this little twitch, like start twitching the shoulder, like, "I got us, Draymond. No way." Like you could see in his demeanor, walk the whole thing, shoot around. "No way we losing this game, bro. I got us." We down 15. And outta nowhere comes Klay Thompson. 3, 3, caught the ball at his foot, one of 'em shot it, 3. And he's like, "I'm telling you, we not." And so then from that point on, we realize, oh, we coming back, we taking this game. But now at that point, you know you got the series because they not coming back to San— no, Oakland, the Oracle. They not coming back to Oracle and beating us in Game 7, right? So we came back. In that series. And I remember it like it was yesterday. It was crazy. That's a crazy year, man. You think about all the things that happened in basketball history in 2016. That series was crazy. Obviously we lost in the finals. 3-1 lead. That was crazy. 2016, that's also the year that like Steph hit that crazy shot in OKC. We had on those gray sleeve jerseys. And that's like, that shot was kind of like Steph's like, Yeah, it's really me, I'm really him, it's really it. Like, and then history happens. It's crazy. But like, that's all that year. But that series with Clay, just coming back from 3-1, it was insane. So, you know, everything that I said before this about a 3-1 and living through that and being a part of that, there's no way I could count either one of these teams out. But 32, 12, and 15.
Come on, man.
15 assists.
That's BD numbers.
That's crazy. 4 steals, 0 turnovers. That is BD number. BD, you had a game like that in your career?
Yeah.
0 turnovers, 2 steals. I mean, Holly had the edge. 2 steals, Holly had 4.
Yeah.
10 assists, you had, Holly had 15. 14 rebounds, you had, Holly had 12. You got Holly there.
Yeah.
You had 33, Holly had 32. You got in there. You remember that performance?
I hit the game winner that day and that is the sole reason why we have replay.
They called it off?
They waved him off.
That's crazy. Man, you, hey, so it wasn't no replay to confirm that?
Man, he called it off before I even released the ball. It was 0.7, 0.8 seconds. He went to the replay, doubled down, and was like, "No way he got it off." Who's the official? What was his name? Barney Fryer, maybe?
Oh, okay.
I can't remember his name. Maybe. He waved it off. We wound up going to overtime against Orlando. But then in that same, I think playoffs, Derek Fisher hit, remember the shot against San Antonio?
44.
Yeah. And then that's when they came with the replay. Oh, we gonna have to start, going to the replay to see if these shots work or not. 'Cause how could Derrick Fisher shot count and mine not?
That's crazy.
So a little taste of history, NBA history, man. History of the game. But shout out to Halliburton. You know, a performance like that, you in your bag, you have control. I remember playing against Orlando, feeling that, That same thing. Anytime Patrick Ewing was in the pick and roll, 'cause Pat was older, man, it's 2 dribbles. Make him slide twice, he gotta go back, and I'm following him right to the basket to create, right? If it's anybody else, they switch, it's over. When you in flow like that and you see everything, the game for Halliburton— He'd be wide open. He be shooting wide open threes. All right, so since you got the Pacers winning, the East, OKC closing this out, why should fans be excited for a Thunder versus Pacers Finals?
I'm not one to get ahead of myself because I think I know better. I've come back from down 3-1 and won a series. I've lost a series being up 3-1, so I'm not, one that's saying this is happening because these two teams still gotta win it. And, and saying that I'm not even going to break down that series or even say why people should be excited because I, I think you gotta finish your breakfast first. This is the playoffs. Anything can ha— anything can happen. So whereas I think the Knicks is done, I, whereas I think—
Draymond Green.
Timberwolves is done. You got, you got that, that last game is the toughest one. Yeah, you gotta prove it. And so both of those teams coming out free swinging because they know like, yo, I ain't got nothing to lose. This is it. This is our last one if we lose. So I'm gonna give everything I got. I'm throwing every haymaker I got. And by the way, both of those teams have multiple guys that can beat you and take over a game. Julius Randle can, obviously Ant-Man can, KAT can, Jalen Brunson. Both of those teams have guys that can beat you. So I'm not going to get into which one of those, how that series, or being excited about it until it's time because you got to close them boys out and it ain't always that easy. Yeah.
