In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green, joined by Colin Cowherd, breaks down Game 1 of the Knicks‑Pacers playoff series. Green praises Jalen Brunson’s methodical, fourth‑quarter takeover, highlighting how his off‑ball work and timely scoring helped the Knicks secure a surprise win. He lauds Josh Hart’s relentless offensive rebounding, comparing it to Tristan Thompson’s style, and notes Dante’s (likely Dante Exum) contributions. Conversely, Green criticizes Tyrese Haliburton’s uncharacteristic timidity and poor decision‑making, labeling his play as frantic and uncharacteristic for a usually mistake‑free player. He discusses the concept of “appropriate fear” from Coach Kerr, suggesting the Knicks will enter Game 2 with a psychological edge while the Pacers may struggle to answer the Knicks’ fast‑paced, defensively disciplined approach. Green also reflects on the fervent enthusiasm of Knicks fans, comparing it to European soccer fan culture, but tempers his excitement with a skeptical view of the Knicks’ championship odds, predicting the Pacers will be limited by their defensive lapses and scoring ceiling. The episode blends tactical analysis, player evaluations, fan culture commentary, and series predictions.
Chapters
Welcome to the brand new Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our content. And moving on, my New York Knicks fans, what is good with y'all? How is everything? Y'all feeling good? Y'all won the game that y'all shouldn't have won. But when you do, sets you up perfectly for the series. So now, you know, we spoke about this before and blowing someone out. In a game 1. The New York Knicks won that game 1 just about as well as you can win a game 1. 'Cause they're gonna come in the game 2 like, ah, little afraid, little on edge. Not afraid, but a little on edge. And what Coach—
Yeah.
What Coach Kerr calls an appropriate fear. Having the appropriate fear for your opponent. And New York will come into next game with appropriate fear due to how much they were tested today. If you're Indiana and you get today, it changes the series for you. And they let a golden opportunity go. And when you're not head and shoulders above your opponent, letting one get away could be almost detrimental and impossible to make up. And I think that will be the case for the Indiana Pacers. Uh, Jalen Brunson had 43, 6 and 6, 14 for 26 from the field. From the field. That's the Jaylen Brunson I'm talking about. If you watch that game, he was not ball dominant at all. Dante was getting off, Josh Hart was getting off, and then in the fourth quarter, Jaylen Brunson took over. And I mean, absolutely took over. And that's what you wanna see. Because what happens is, what tends to happen is Jaylen let— Draymond Green. Those guys do what they were doing. And he, you know, he was great. He was doing his thing. And then he took over in the fourth quarter. And when he took over in the fourth quarter, because Dante's had a game, because Josh Hart's had a game, because OG's had a game, now you done got in your bag, got in your bag, and you in your bag every play. And then all of a sudden you have to get off the ball and you swing it. And who you hit? Dante, big three. Yeah. But why could you go to him? Because he was ready for you. Because you kept him involved the rest of the game. Dante catch that ball and he 0 for 4 from 3, 1 for 4 from 3, 1 for 5. That's a totally different shot. But he locked in, he's in rhythm. And so then you can call up on your other guys. So I loved, absolutely loved the game Jalen Brunson played today. I thought he would, was like I said, he was getting off the ball. He wasn't dominating the ball. Didn't take a ton of shots, took great shots, got to his spot, very methodical. We spoke about the Indiana Pacers having Andrew Nembhard guard him. He's just too small. Like Jalen was just walking him to the spot and like raising up over him. He shot a 3 once in his face. Like he's right there, not big enough, just raised up and shot the 3. And these are all plays down the stretch. He's just walking him to the middle of the paint and raising up over him. And you know, Nimhard is their best defender and we spoke, or best perimeter defender for sure. And we spoke about that and I just don't think that that is a good matchup for them. And someone may say like, ah, he did a good job and then Jaylen just got off in the fourth quarter. But I'm gonna tell you, it looks like Jaylen almost took that approach because he know he could get off when he wanted to get off. To let that game get away was tough. Now, if you're the Indiana Pacers, you could, in a very fool's goldish way, say, "Halle had a bad game and we still had an opportunity to win the game." And I'm here to tell you, you got a great game from all your other guys and not Halle. That's the one you better win. And so for me, I thought Holley looked a little timid. He looked very timid actually. I saw him turning down shots that he normally takes. When he's coming off the pick and roll, it was almost like he had tunnel vision and like predetermined what he wanted to do just to get off the ball. Just some uncharacteristic plays. He looked very frantic and— like I said, just a little too timid for me. It's like he wasn't like, it almost looked like he was a little rattled by the moment. Like the moment, the stage was a little too big because some of the mistakes that Hallie was making, A, Hallie is a mistake-free basketball player. Like this is the same guy who had multiple games with, what'd he have? A couple games with 20 assists and zero turnovers or something like that all season. This is a guy who doesn't, like, he's not a high mistake basketball player. And some of the mistakes he was making to me was just like eye popping. Like, you know, Miles, maybe last 4 or 5 minutes of the game comes and sets a screen. Hallie's on the right side of the floor, then he's going middle. He take one dribble off middle and Miles pop, drops the ball, like throws it away, they go down, they get a dunk, layup. And it's like, when I say uncharacteristic is because Miles pop when he shoot, when he set a screen, 95% of the time he's gonna pop. So just to assume that he was gonna make that dive like that, like one, like not even a whole dribble off and you're getting off it. That to me just looked a little timid. I said, turn down a couple shots that he'll line up and he take those shots. And I was just, ah, you know, turn the ball over another play, another uncharacteristic turnover. OG Anunoby flying down court. Holly got one foul. You move out the way, it's the playoffs. Foul him, make him go to the line and take those. You got one foul in the fourth quarter. Foul him, don't just move out the way. And so I was a little disappointed in Hallie's game. See, he's too good of a player to have that game. Like, it was almost like you didn't go downswing. So if you even try swinging back a little bit, I think they actually get over the hump because everybody did their thing. TJ McConnell balled out. Myles balled out. Like Aaron Neesmith balled out. Obi Toppin balled out. So I, you don't, like you gotta win that game. And now Knicks feeling good about themselves. They won one that they shouldn't won. They're getting game too. And so I think, I think it's just gonna get tougher and tougher for Indiana. And I don't think they'll have much of an answer. The Knicks wanna play fast. Indiana wants to play fast. Only problem is the Knicks can play fast, but they can defend. Indiana play fast, they don't guard. And they scored 117 points today. I don't think the Knicks will give up 117 points to them again. And that's gonna be an issue for the Indiana Pacers because all year they've been trying to be the first to 120. The Knicks got there by the skin of their teeth, but I don't think they'll need to get there again because I don't think, I'd be willing to bet, I can't bet literally, but I don't think Indiana gets over 115 points the rest of the series because that'll be the focal point. Remember, we barely won this game. We shouldn't have won. So we going into this film, Tibbs coming back like, we gotta do this defensively, that defensively. That's where they're gonna lock in the most at. So I don't know. I don't think Indiana has a chance in game 2.
Yeah.
I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about Josh Hart. The way Josh Hart is dominating these playoffs. He dominated those guys today. He got every offensive rebound he wasn't supposed to get and just made play after play getting guys extra shots. They hit a 3 off a couple of his offensive rebounds. Like you gotta turn and box him out. Josh Hart crashing the boards like Tristan Thompson used to crash the boards in 2016, 2015, 2017 with the Cavs. That's how Josh Hart crashing the boards. He playing great basketball. Dante playing incredible basketball. And it's been fun to watch. It's been fun to watch those guys kind of muster up and re-get that thing back that they had when they won a national championship at Villanova. It's been fun to watch. Now, Knicks fans. Yeah. As I told y'all, I saw good friend Al, Jeff, these guys are stout. These guys are talking about the Knicks. And Al, number one, Al goes, "I've told my wife for years, none of the kids can get married in June because Knicks in the NBA Finals, I'm not gonna be there. I'm going, like, I've been waiting for all of these years for the Knicks to win the Finals." I'm like, Al.
Yeah.
They not gonna win in your lifetime. I'm sitting there joking and messing with Al. He's like, Draymond, you stop it, da da da. And we go on and on. However, I said all of that to say, the excitement that Knicks fans have about winning this round 1 series is hilarious, is great for the sport, is super fun as a fan of the game. I think it's hilarious, but I think it's super fun to watch their enthusiasm. Right. Knicks fans are absolutely insane about the Knicks. And you know, I'm sitting there watching these guys talk about these series and what happens if the Knicks make the finals and all of these things. And the passion for that team is unlike many things I've ever seen. Like the passion that Knicks have for the team almost rivals like the passion that— Draymond Green. European soccer fans have for their clubs. It's very, very, very interesting to watch. And man, I sat and I laughed. I couldn't get around it. And so I just wanted to say to you Knicks fans, I still don't think y'all have a chance at winning a championship. I told Al this, I told Jeff this. I love the basketball that those guys are playing. It's very fun to watch. Um, I'm not exactly sure when the expiration date is. I don't think it'll come in this series. I think they'll handle this series pretty easily, and then the expiration date is next series. But for the time being, Knicks fans, enjoy it. Um, there's not— there's, there's— there hasn't been much else for you guys to cheer for over the years, so I get it. Enjoy every single second of it. Because although I'm rooting for my man Dante and Tibbs and Irm, I just don't think y'all stand a chance. That's just my opinion, Knicks fans. Y'all don't have to go at me, quite frankly. I know y'all are used to it, so that's just that. And I'm gonna move on from that. However, that is the Jalen Brunson I wanna see moving forward in this series. They're gonna need more of that Jalen Brunson, not just trying to get his, but making sure everybody else get involved, then take over. And Indiana Pacers are gonna need a much more aggressive, much better Halliburton. And although I don't think it happens this year, but if Halli ever wants to become the player that I think he's capable of becoming, that I believe he thinks he's capable of becoming, at some point he's gonna have to start defending on, or competing on the defensive end. Like, you just can't be a zero on the defensive end and think you're going to be an elite player in this league and win at an elite level. Have to give some effort. And with, like, Holly's 6'7". Like, you can get in passing lanes. It don't necessarily mean you gotta be a lockdown defender, but you have to do something. You gotta make rotations. Like, there was a couple plays where he's coming from the corner and— Yeah. Like he's the next rotation of Dante. Dante hits a 3 on the left wing. Holly's late on the rotation. It's like those things. Like I'm not saying you gotta sit down and lock a guy up, but those types of things, if you wanna win championships and be great, your best player have to do those. Because when you do those things, A, guys will run through a wall for you, and B, you can hold other guys accountable.
Yeah.
And if you can't hold guys accountable, then y'all can't win at any level. If you can't hold guys accountable, your best player can't hold the guys accountable because they lack effort on one side of the floor. So they're not allowed to hold the other guys accountable. You can never win that way. And so Holly's gonna have to make some big strides in that area as he continue to move forward, because I think he got a chance to be special. But if he wants to be special in the way that you have to be special in this league these days, which is you have to win. You have to win. You not winning, there's an expiration date on what people believe or see of you as a top player in this league. And Halley's big thing is gonna be he's going to have to compete on the defensive end. And right now that ain't gonna bode well for them because everybody on the Knicks team is live. Everybody's looking to go. So you can't hide nowhere. And I think that's an important thing for them, an important thing in his growth as he move forward.
The NBA playoffs are heating up, man, they have been. So good. I know it's over, but Lakers-Nuggets may have been a 5-game series. It was great. Knicks-Sixers, amazing. Why don't you sign up for the DraftKings Sportsbook app? Takes 90 seconds. The official sports betting partner of the NBA. If you're in DraftKings, once you sign up, you got to check this out. New customers bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets instantly. Great proposition, right? $5, you get $150. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. The code's Colin. C-O-L-I-N. It's me, C-O-L-I-N. Really quick, really easy. If you've never bet sports before, check it out. Really makes the games fun. The code is Colin. New customers get $150 in bonus bets by betting $5 only on DraftKings. The crown is yours.
