Warriors-Celtics Game 5 NBA Finals reaction: Wiggins steps up for Steph Curry | Draymond Green Show

What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. We are recording this late on Monday. So really Tuesday morning and obviously Dubs won the game tonight to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals. Absolutely incredible night. Let's get straight into that. Dubs walked away 104 to 94. Andrew Wiggins, that's, we must start by talking about Andrew Wiggins, who had an absolutely incredible game. He had 26 points and 13 rebounds. I love the aggressiveness. What I, what I love most about the 26 points is not that he had 26 points, is that he took 26, 23 shots.

Yeah.

And that just shows the aggressiveness. It was exactly what we needed, especially with Steph struggles, which we'll get into later. But for Wiggs to play the way that he played, 13 rebounds. Again, you're talking a guy who before game 4, his career high in rebounds for any game in his career was 11. And now he backs that up with 16 rebounds in game 4 and then comes right back with 13 rebounds in game 5. Amazing. Now Wiggs has been rebounding the entire playoffs and he has been rebounding extremely well, offensively, defensively. He's really showing and using the athleticism that we all have known that he's had. Forever. I mean, he shot right out of a cannon. But I think the thing that most people have to understand is and appreciate is Boston is a very, very, very, very physical team. And to rebound against them, you have to take hits. You have to box out because they have guys that's athletic as well. You know, one thing coaches always preach, especially when you're playing a team that's as athletic or more athletic than you. One thing coaches always preach is you're not going to win a jumping contest. You're not just going to outjump people. You have to box out, you have to get in position for rebounding. And that's what's been absolutely incredible to me is a lot of the times in these games we're small. So, you know, he's in there amongst the trees boxing out. Getting rebounds. Another important thing about rebounding is, is containing dribble penetration. Because if you can, if you can contain dribble penetration, it allows your defensive shell to stay set. And if your defensive shell can stay set, then you have a better opportunity at rebounding the basketball because you have inside positioning. And so that is a very important thing when it comes to rebound, which is why you always hear people say, The game is tied together. It's tied together on the offensive end, the defensive end. You can play as great a defense as you want. If you don't come, the possession does not end until you secure the rebound. And that has been a key for us in this entire playoffs. Obviously a key in this series, but all playoffs long, that's been a key for us. And I think the thing that I love about it most is guys are really stepping up to the challenge and rebounding. Because that was kind of a knack on us. You know, the knack was that that team can't rebound, they're too small, X, Y, and Z. And it's actually been one of our biggest strengths in the playoffs. So extremely important. Robert Williams has been incredible on the glass all series. And it's, you know, I think he had a few of 'em tonight, but we've been doing a great job rebounding the basketball. And in order for us to close this series out,— it's going to be even tougher to rebound the basketball. So we have to make sure we stay locked in on our details. Make sure you're hitting bodies, boxing out, not just trying to outjump people because that is a big key for us, rebound. Now on top of Wiggs playing the game or having the game that he had offensively, his defense was absolutely incredible as well. Taking on the responsibility of guarding Jayson Tatum is not an easy task for anyone. As he is a young superstar in this league, as he is a guy who I told y'all before at USA, it was Kevin's team. We all knew, we all know, no problem. Like it's what it is. Kevin too. And you could see Kevin kind of do it, ushering JT into it being his team. It's like when we needed a bucket, K was doing his thing, but when we needed a bucket, all right, now go to JT. JT, go get us a bucket. And so that is the guy that I had the opportunity to spend a summer with, had the opportunity to win a gold medal with, and watch what he's capable of. And he is absolutely amazing. So for Wiggs to do the job that he's been doing defensively is just a true testament to his will. And— his want to be great on the defensive end as he's been all playoff long. Because like I said, the, I mean, especially when you start talking about like, like JT is a legit 6'10". The only player that you can even come remotely close to comparing him to in this league is Kevin Durant. And we all know how I feel about Kevin Durant and what I think what I think about him on the offensive end. One of the greatest scorers we've ever seen. Now Jason Tatum is like a young version of that. Obviously don't have all the experience that Kevin has. Kevin's in what, his 15th or 16th year. JT's in his 5th. And so you'll continue to see that grow. But nonetheless, who he is right now is absolutely amazing. And to see Wiggs doing the job that he's doing defensively, has been a key, key, key piece of this game, of this series for us. And it was definitely huge tonight. Steph, as I hinted at earlier, struggled shooting the ball, has 16 points on 7 for 22 from the field, 0 for 9 from 3. A streak breaker, by the way, Steph had made one 3 in 223 games.

Wow.

If I'm not mistaken, I think it's 223 games, could be more, that he had made a 3 in his playoff career. And he didn't make one tonight. For most people, Jackson, by the way, what I noticed y'all is, as I've told y'all before, Jackson is a big Boston Celtics fan, as we all know. And Jackson just be watching my microphone do this. And I feel like it's because we playing the Celtics, because if we weren't playing the Celtics, he would tell me that my microphone was like this and that I could fix my boom. I think this is a boom. Yeah, I can fix my boom. But Jackson doesn't tell me because we're in this heated battle with the Celtics. And although we continue to produce this great podcast for y'all, it's really like, Rah! Between me and Jackson right now. But we continue to put that to the side and try to bring our fans what they want, which is the pod after the game. So we here. But so if you see me continue to keep, I told myself I'm gonna keep looking at this screen and I'm gonna check and see when this is messed up because I'll be going back and watch the pod and it'd be messed up for like 7 minutes. And I'm like, this dude ain't say nothing to me. If you see me keep picking with it, just know I'm on it and I'm locked in. But back to Steph, first playoff game ever not making a 3. What does that say to me? A, the Boston Celtics defense did a good job. I think he missed some that he would make for sure, but they did a good job. You have to give their defense credit. We, we know their defense is— It's good. Is as advertised. But what that says to me is game 6, I feel like he's just gotta be due for an explosion because he didn't make a shot tonight. And like, when does Steph Curry not make a shot? And I've seen Steph not make many shots before and I know how he responds to that. So to see him not make a shot, I know the response that I'm expecting to him not making a 3. Let me back that up. A 3. But nonetheless, was still extremely important to the game. Obviously our offense stop and go with Steph Curry, the gravity that he pulls to allow other people lanes, to allow other people open shots. Uh, there's not been a player in NBA history that pulls more gravity on the offensive end than Steph Curry. And so impact was obviously still felt, was very good on the defensive end, very aggressive on the defensive end. And then was obviously just Steph Curry. No, he didn't hit a 3, but still controlled the entire pace of the game for us. Controlled the flow, got us into the things that we needed to get into to make his impact felt. Even though he wasn't hitting shots. Obviously I fouled out of the game. I think I fouled out with 8, 8 and 7 or something like that. Felt a lot more like myself today. Came out the gate really aggressive on the offensive end, which was great for me to just kind of feel, you know, see the ball go through the net a couple times, number one, but also apply pressure to their defense. I think that's very important that I apply pressure to their defense and not allow them to just play in gaps and all of those things. And I thought I was able to come out and do that tonight, was apply pressure. But more importantly than applying pressure to their defense, um, was just the mindset, you know, uh, the force. And I think with the exception of maybe the first couple minutes of the third quarter, we played with that force the entire night. Mm-hmm. And I thought that was huge. Now, yes, they continued to go on a run there in the third quarter. The Boston Celtics went 8 for 9 from 3 in that third quarter. And although I think what happened was they found their rhythm those first couple minutes, they brought it to us, they picked up, they caused a couple turnovers, they got out in transition, they hit a couple buckets. Jaylen Brown got to the free throw line twice, went 4 for 4 from the line to start the half. And then that kind of got them going. Then you had a Jason Tatum 3, you had an Al Horford 3, you had a Marcus Smart 3, and they really got it going. And, you know, kudos to our guys for staying the course, not getting rattled, and just staying there, understanding that they're a great team, they're gonna make a run, and we have to respond. And we did, which was absolutely incredible. But— I think for— For them to go 8 for 9 in the third quarter from 3, play as well as they did, and then Jordan Poole hits another almost half-court shot. I thought that was, that was a huge momentum swing for us. Because for them to have the quarter that they had and then to go into the fourth quarter down, although it was by one point, It's just the psyche, like what it does to your mental. And so we're going in, we're going into the fourth quarter and we're going into our huddle and we're like, yo, they played a great quarter, but we're ahead one. Whereas they're like, yo, we played an absolutely incredible quarter. Keep it going. But you look up and you're losing. And like I said, although it's only one point, it's the psyche. Yeah. And so I thought that was absolutely huge for us. Absolutely huge. And JP had a very good game off the bench. Gary Payton had an absolute— JP had 14 points off the bench. Gary Payton had 15 points off the bench. Was absolutely incredible on both ends of the floor. He was cutting backdoor, got a few deflections for offensive rebounds. And then he was obviously Gary on the defensive end. And so it was great to see him have the type of game that he had. You know, I thought game 2, when he first got back, he had an absolutely incredible game. And then you, you know, when you first get back that first game, your emotions are phew, like they're through the roof and you can feed off of that. Then you come that second game back, you're not quite feeding off the emotion. And then you have to kind of just play to your conditioning level and all of that. And I think this extra week, has helped him, has helped his condition level in a very important way to allow him to have the game that he had tonight because it wasn't emotion. Like those emotions from returning from injury are gone. And so now you just have to play. And I thought he did that tonight and it was absolutely incredible. It was what we needed. Those 15 points were huge. And so that was great to get that type of production from our guys off the bench. Draymond Green. Killer Klay Thompson. 5 for 11 from 3, 21 points, couple steals, incredible defense. I think there was one point in the game where we're running back and forth down the floor and like Klay's mouth is literally just dripping blood. Now most people would go to the official like, yo, like, can I? This dude's just running back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and his mouth is like, literally, you can't see his bottom lip. The whole lip was like filled with, like covered in blood. And in typical Klay fashion, I don't think he thought anything of it. He probably thought that's how he was supposed to be running around out there looking on Klay. But— —just another testament to who Klay Thompson is. He shows up in big moments. He backs down from no challenge. And we needed it. 'Cause again, Klay— Steph was obviously off from 3. And Klay, he carried us. I think also, I thought another thing that was huge was Klay Thompson, The way, the force that he came out the gate with, he had 5 points like deep into the second quarter and it had to be the loudest 5 points I've ever seen. I looked up one point like, this dude only got 5 points? They were so loud just because the aggression and force that he came out playing with from the gate. And it was absolutely huge. He goes 5 for 11 from 3. He's actually the only person in our starting lineup to hit a 3. Tonight. And so we really need him to shoot like that. Obviously the Celtics didn't shoot it great either, but to go 9 for 40 from 3 and still win the way we did, that's very, very, very uplifting. That's something that you, you know, you can grab onto and going on the road and understanding like, man, we couldn't hit a shot. You make a few more of those, which we normally do, and I think we will. And you put yourself in position to come home with a championship, which we're one game away. And it is going to be the absolute toughest game that you can imagine going into Boston. Number one, that place is gonna be absolutely insane.

Yeah.

But then you're trying to close a team out on the road. Closing a team out in general is tough, extremely tough. Closing the team out on the road is like a whole nother monster. Now in saying that, there's no better feeling than closing a team out on the road, but it is hard to do. I think we're capable, we've done it before. I have no doubt in my mind that we can do it again, but we have to go in there with an even better mentality than we did tonight if we're going to secure this win. And it has to start on the defensive end. I think tonight our defense was absolutely incredible. We were able to cause 18 turnovers. On the flip side, we were able to take care of the ball and only having 7 turnovers. And I think that was a huge, huge, huge part of the game for us because shots already weren't falling.

Mm-hmm.

And so now you couple that with turnovers and it's a totally different story. So I thought that was huge for us to take care of the ball, the way we did and ultimately helped us walk away with the win. But as I said, we shot 22% from the 3. Need to bump that like another 20% going into Boston so we can close this thing out. But I'll tell you what, it's a very exciting feeling knowing that you're one game away from the ultimate, the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Yeah.

It is the most nerve-wracking feeling knowing that you're one game away from the Larry O'Brien Trophy. So for us, it's important that we show up to the plane tomorrow ready to go, not get to Boston, chill out, get you, you show up to that plane tomorrow ready to go because that's how hard it's going to be. And you're gonna feel that energy immediately stepping into the city of Boston. It's not like you step into the arena, you feel that. You gonna feel that energy immediately stepping in. So I think it's important that we bring our hard hats to the plane, ready to go because we're one game away and it's going to be the toughest one yet. As you know, it is one, like I said before, it is 1:47 in the morning now. I still need to pack. I did eat already this time though. Good. But I still need to pack. But before we get out of here, as you know, we're going to take a couple mailbag questions. Jackson, you got some for us?

Yep. First one's going to be for me, actually. You just said that there's no greater feeling than closing a team out on the road. You've obviously won a lot of playoff series. You've closed teams out on the road at Chase Center and at Oracle. Do you actually prefer closing a team out on the road or you prefer doing it in front of the home fans?

I've done both. And the reality is, is they both give you two different feelings. Going on the road and closing the team out in the silence that you hear in an opposing crowd, it's an insane feeling because you feel like you just conquered them. And so that's great. Having the opportunity to close a team out when you're at home and sharing that moment with your fan base, I mean, that's like, it's glorious. Like, I mean, you just feel it. Like, it's absolutely incredible. And so I— Draymond Green. To say one is better than the other one is like, yeah, you can have your preference, but they're both absolutely incredible, but they give you different feelings. You know, ultimately, yes, you won a championship, but the feeling that the, that the two of them give to you are two totally different feelings and for different reasons.

Great answer. From @Sultan Hey, Jab, what are some things you do in between games to help you mentally?

I try to, you know, that's different in the playoffs than it is the regular season because in between games during the regular season, like you gotta think our season is 9 months long. So in between games during the regular season, you're just going on about your life. Like you're living your life. Whatever you do, family, golf, video game, whatever it is that you do, podcast, like whatever it is that you do, you're just continuing on with your life. In the playoffs, at least for me, everything is centered around how can I be my absolute best for this next game we got coming up? So that's massages, that's stretches, that's— Diet. Acupuncture, that's icing, that's sauna, that's eating. Like, you're trying to do everything that you can in between those games and so— watching film. And so I don't— for me, it's not really much that I do in between games to help me mentally other than see my wife and see my kids. Because that's always going to bring you to a place of saneness. That's always going to bring you to a place of calmness. That's always going to bring you to a place of vulnerability. You know, and so for me it's that, but even in saying that, like, you're not always trying to be around your family during the playoffs either because there is a certain mental space, there is a certain edge that you need to keep. Like, it's hard to just be letting that thing go and then rediscovering it. So you also want to keep that edge. So trying to find that balance is absolutely important. And ultimately, as a father and a husband, you have to do it. But you still try to stay as close to you can, as close as you can to that, just that level of insanity, for lack of a better term, if you will.

Last one, and reminder to submit your questions on Twitter at #TheDraymondGreenShow. I thought this one was particularly interesting for tonight because of how emphatic you were to challenge your 6th foul call. So from Biscuit at biscuit_11, how has your relationship with Steve Kerr developed over the years?

I think we just understand each other. We understand that we have a very similar fire. He knows how to press my buttons. He knows when I need to be pulled aside and talked to. I know when I need to pull him aside and talk to him. I think the way our relationship has changed over the years, or developed over the years, if you will, is there's just a huge sense of trust. There's a great understanding of each other, and we rely on each other. Like, I really rely on him to to show me things, to teach me things, to coach me up, to show me things in film, to— but more importantly, to lead this team from a coaching standpoint. And he relies on me to lead this team from a player standpoint. He relies on me to give him feedback from things that I see on the court. You know, to give him some feedback on where I think we should go next. It's just a trust. That we have amongst each other that's just grown and grown and grown. And we've been together for 8 years now. We've done some incredible things together, but that trust wasn't always there. Like, trust, trust is something that is built over time, and it's not something that once you gain it, you keep it. It's something that you're working on constantly, day in and day out. And I think with my— the more that I've matured the better understanding and relationship that we have. And it's absolutely incredible now, but I can't say it was always that way. We were growing and relationships take time to grow. And I think when you meet someone, when you meet someone that is just like you, those usually take a little more time to grow than someone that's the opposite of you because opposites attract.

Opposites attract.

And so when you meet someone that's the opposite, it's like boom, Steph and Steve, they're total opposites. Click right away. Klay and Steph, you click right away. Total opposites. When you run into someone that's so much like yourself, it's not as easy to click with that until you get the understanding like, man, I'm the same way. Like, I'm just like that. You understand it from a different place and then you view it differently. And that is a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show. Talk to you guys after Game 6, and hopefully when I talk to you, I'll be a 4-time champ. That is the goal. That's the plan. Let's hope it all come together. Until next time, that's a wrap. Peace.

Peace.