Warriors-Kings Game 7 reaction: Steph's 50 points + Lakers-Warriors preview | 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. This is the home of a team that just won Game 7 on the road to close out the series against the Sacramento Kings. I know there's a lot of y'all out there didn't think we could do this. Yeah, here we are. I know a lot was said about the road record, back-to-back road wins for those that don't believe. The playoffs, there's just something different about the playoffs and you figure stuff out and that's what we like to do. It's a lot to talk about. Obviously we need to talk about our game, but also the rest of the playoffs, man. The playoffs are really heating up, some tough matchups. But first, before we get into all of those things, let's talk about it, Warriors topped the Kings 120 to 100 at the Golden 1 Center. We lit the beam. There will be no beam being lit on top of Golden 1 or wherever that light is coming from. We lit the beam. And it was absolutely wonderful. Some quick takeaways. Number 1, I did not think I felt like their crowd was nervous, A, or B, fans may have gotten priced out because it was a Game 7 and the fans that were there at other games, I just can't in my heart believe that those were the same fans. And saying that, the atmosphere was still electric, incredible to play in, but I just didn't feel like those were the same fans from the previous game. Yeah. Could have been, and they just really maybe have been silenced and knew what happened game 5 when they were a little over the top and didn't summon that same energy. And then maybe Steph Curry just sent them night-night, and that's what it was. But that was a little different, at least it felt like, which I've never experienced that, playing in game 7s. Played a game 7 against the Clippers, played in game 7 at Houston, and now sac. Those are the game 7s, at home versus the Cavs, at home versus OKC. But that just felt a little different. Anyway, let's get into the game. We need to start no further than the man, the myth, the legend himself, Steph Curry, 50 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists. Guy did everything. 20 for 38 from the field, 7 for 18 from 3. It's so funny because that guy is so amazing, so incredible. And after years of doing this, like you kind of just know when he got that look, you know when he locked in. And you know when he's just not, like losing isn't an option. Like there's times where he go in this mode where you can't lose, you're not gonna lose. And at no point throughout that game, you know, like you go through the game and like you had these different emotions and thoughts. And at no point throughout that game did I think we were gonna lose that game. At no point. Steph was absolutely incredible. Uh, again, just like Game 3, masterful. Slowed the tempo to wherever he wanted it. When he wanted to push the tempo, tempo was gone. When he wanted to slow it down, slow it down. And got to everything that he wanted to get to, and it was absolutely incredible. Um, incredible to watch, incredible to be a part of. I'm not sure, um, for those of you that didn't watch but are hearing this, All you needed to see for me was wherever Steph Curry was, I was either trying to get him the ball with a pass or go set a screen and then get out his way. And he did the rest. First time in the history of Game 7s in the NBA that someone scored 50 points. How insane is that? We talk all these great performances, Game 7 performances. And Steph Curry has the best one ever. And as you know, I'm not a big like, oh man, you scored, like this is great. Like whoever scores the most points. Number one, don't anybody just score 50 points in Game 7. Hence the fact it has not been done. Or just go off in Game 7s normally. But like that's GOAT stuff, man. Like you, when you speak of Game 7, His name will always be mentioned in the great Game 7s. And like to go on the road, hostile environment, and do that against a young team that just called us old, that just said, you know, we know those guys are old. It's one, this is shorter turnaround. The last game, I honestly thought they looked a little gassed to me as opposed to the old guys looking a little gassed. Yeah. Looked like they ran outta gas and hope and wins and we move on. But Steph, after game 6, I saw something that Tim Kawakami said, Jackson and Fade brought it to me from the podcast, from The Athletic, Tim Kawakami, I've known him since I got drafted here. He's a longtime Bay Area sportswriter. And he said, I'm gonna read his quote. He said, "The locker room was empty for a while except for Steph, Klay, and Draymond. They weren't talking to each other, they were just sitting there. It did feel like they were just kind of summoning energy. They just kind of were sitting there. I've watched them a lot through the years and I had never really seen that." Mm-hmm. What was that? We all were sitting there. Number one, we were doing recovery stuff a little longer than most, just making sure, you know, you get to a point in your career where you dialed in and you gonna do everything, not cut any corners, you know, every little thing that you can do to maximize recovery. Because in the words of Malik Monk, it was a short turnaround. And so you're kind of doing like prepping, like it's a back-to-back game while you're in, that's the recovery cycle you're going through. And so number one, we had been doing that, but then we're just kind of sitting in the locker room because like, I'm not gonna lie, man, game 6, that was a gut punch. Like you come out with the opportunity to close out a series, it's a young scrappy team and like they destroyed, they manhandled us in game 6, manhandled. And you felt it. And it wasn't like a silence of like, we're scared, we don't know what's to come. It was just like, damn. And that like, wow. And so you just sitting there thinking and you're replaying plays and we're all just kind of sitting in there and we didn't need to say much. We didn't say much. Ultimately we ended up saying, "All right fellas, I'll see y'all tomorrow." But that night, that night I sent those two guys a text message and I just sent them some of my thoughts. And it was actually a text that I was gonna send to our group chat, our team group chat. And I was like, "Nah, let me just text these two guys." Yeah. And so I text him too. And of course, in typical Klay fashion, he never said a word. Uh-huh. It's typical Klay. I sent that text at— I'll tell you the exact time I sent that text because, I mean, it's a part of the story. Like, why not, right? So I sent that text at 3 AM. I can't sleep after games. Steph texts back at 6. I won't read you all of my texts, but the first line is, "So I can't sleep, period. Just finished the film again." Period. And then I go into some other things. Steph texts back at 6:00 AM like, "Can't sleep either, but let me deliver the message before film." Because he know me, like I'm coming in, I haven't slept all night. Like I'm coming in like lock in, motherfucker. He said, "But let me deliver the message before film." before the coaches come in before film tomorrow. Let me deliver. Say no more. And he delivered such a powerful message. It was incredible. It was, listen, we just got embarrassed last night. We got embarrassed on our home floor with an opportunity to close out. A team and we never showed up. He said, if you getting on this bus, you making a commitment to this team. I don't care how many minutes you play. I don't care if you don't play a single second. I don't care if it's points, rebounds, whatever it is. But if you getting on this bus, you are saying I am going to do Whatever it takes as far as my preparation goes to win this game. We not going out like that. Like we went out game 6, we not going out like that. We have an opportunity to play in game 7. They rare, they don't come around. Take advantage of the moment, embrace the moment. And he went a little further in, but it was such an incredible speech. Yeah. And when he finished, he said, "Anybody else got something?" Nah, champ, it's enough said. You said it all. When he delivered that speech, I can't say I knew he was gonna come out and get 50, but I knew he was gonna come out and do something incredible. And I knew there was no way he was gonna allow us to lose that game. Yeah. Masterful performance. GOAT performance. Again, looks like Steph Curry in the NBA Finals. Absolutely incredible. I'm honored to have been there and been a part of that. Wow. Incredible. Kevon Looney, 21 rebounds. I said it, I said it in film yesterday. I said, man, Trey Lyles been punking us, man. Trey Lyles been punking everybody. He punked me, he punked Loon. And Loon said after the film, he came up to me, he said, man, Trey Lyles ain't punked me, man. Don't be throwing that on my resume. I said, listen, Loon, show me then. Loon got a couple of them rebounds in the second half. He said, ain't nobody punking me. I said, yeah, Toon. It was so incredible to watch him dominate his matchup, dominate the game. His offensive rebounds broke they spirit. You could see it with every single one of them as he got 'em, their spirit just broke a little bit more, a little bit more, and a little bit more. And then Kevon go crash the glass and 3 guys run at him. Somebody else slip in and get an offensive rebound. Our game plan, we executed. Coach Kerr text me on my way home today and he said, "That may have been the best I've ever seen you guys execute a game plan." It was so fun to watch. The way we executed that game, turnovers, 7 turnovers, 7 turnovers. You talking about controlling the pace, controlling the tempo and not letting the team get out in transition. Because they had struggled against our half-court defense all series. And so you fall into this trap of like, man, they're scoring a lot, da da da. And you start making a bunch of crazy adjustments. But actually what you've been doing been working. What can you clean up? Offensive rebounds. We cleaned the rebounding up. Kevon Looney, 21 rebounds. I think Wiggs has 7 or 8 rebounds. I think I had 6 or 7. Klay had— 7. Maybe 7 or 8 rebounds. Guys rebounded to 8, Steph, 8 rebounds. Guys rebounded the basketball. And it started with the man in the middle, Kevon Looney, holding the fort down, getting every rebound, offensive and defensive. Not only, obviously changed the game today, but that changed the series. That changed the series. Game 3, down 0-2, I'm suspended, back against the wall. What does he do? Get 20 rebounds. Game 5, pivotal, pivotal game 5, tied up 2-2 on the road. What does he do? 20+ rebounds. Game 7, biggest stage in basketball, biggest stage in sports, 21 rebounds. If you're not impressed, then what, what are we watching? What are we looking at and what are we looking for? So I take my hat off to Loom. Let's not miss the assists he had all series long. Just good decision after good decision after good decision. Continuing to grow, and that's what you love to see. Guy who's battle-tested, been through it all. Stand tall no matter what. I go in a foxhole with him any day, any day. I was thinking game 5, After game 5, I'm like, man, you know what everybody forgot? They forgot, man, this Wiggins, that was Wiggins' 5th game in 2, 2 and a half, 3 months. I know everybody forgot. You want, you know how I know everyone forgot? 'Cause I forgot. Tonight he found that aggressiveness. You could tell he's gotten his legs back under him. See, what happens is you see he play like a couple of games and what usually happens, when you return from a long layoff. It's like you have a couple of games and then you're gonna tank. And then you start to march back up and you love, and you get back to yourself. And he's headed back up. And you saw that aggressiveness tonight. You saw the offensive rebounds. You saw the defense. You saw him locked in. Playoff Wigs. Didn't shoot it particularly well, but the energy, loose ball steals in transition. Don't miss the little things. Wiggs was huge tonight. Klay's aggressiveness, didn't hit shots like he normally does, even missed 2 free throws. The aggressiveness, the demonstrativeness, getting into Keegan Murray changes things. And obviously they're not leaving him. Steph came up to me, he said, yo, Go at like 6 seconds on the clock, come and screen me, but don't screen me, go get Klay. Klay came off and won 3. And that felt like, like that shot took their heart. That was like, man. But I'll tell you something. I know everybody's gonna slander Jordan Poole and been slandering him. But something I always tell Jordan is his attitude and his— Attitude. Demeanor, a lot of people follow that on this team. People follow that. And his demeanor tonight was incredible. 71-64, we in a timeout. He come to timeout, he say, "Hey man, they getting a little tight now. All of a sudden, floater short, shot short. They getting a little tight. Turn the pressure up now." We fed off that energy. It was huge. It was huge. Malik Monk got it going early and he shut the water off. Then the water got shut off. It was tough and Fox never really found it today. But before I, before I move on, there's a couple more things I want to talk about with this game. Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis. You don't shake guys' hands after you lose. I don't respect that. I once left the court when we lost in game 7 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I went to my locker room and I sat down and I said, "This don't feel right." And I walked back out on the court and I showed everybody love. You lost, deal with it. Pay your respect. I, I, that was whack to me. That's whack. Like, but I wouldn't necessarily even say lost respect. Like, but I don't respect that and that's whack. However, Sacramento Kings organization, Sacramento Kings fan base, De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Mike Brown and company, I gained a lot of respect for. I always had respect for Mike Brown. A lot of times in these playoff series, man, you lead a series and you like, man, I lost all respect for that guy. He get in these series and like tighten up, get soft, like don't embrace the moment. Like you lose a lot of respect for guys in these playoff series, I'll tell you. I got a lot of respect for them boys. They showed up. Trey Lyles, they fought. Terrence Davis. Brothers fought, man. I respect Harrison taking less minutes, less of a role as the leader of that team. One of the only few, one of the few guys that has a has experience in the playoffs, a champion him and Delly. Terrence Davis got it going these last 2 games. Harrison ain't play much. Demeanor was upbeat, still talking to his guys. I can respect that. I gained a lot of respect for the Sacramento Kings. So I wanna say that, that's not the last we'll see of that group. Yeah. That group gonna have to be reckoned with for years to come in the NBA. And I look forward to the battles, the challenge of it, the competition. And then someday when we are too old, Monk, and we gone on, seeing what they can put together. That's a group that fought. And you gotta respect that. I got a lot of respect for those guys. Yeah. So I wanted to, you know, say that because De'Aaron Fox, he had a tough one tonight. First game 7, there'll be another opportunity. He had a tough one tonight, but the way he carried them guys, his demeanor, leadership. I told y'all when me and him got into our back and forth, that what game was it? The first game I got back, game 4. Yeah. We got into it because I said something to Keegan Murray. He stepped right in. I can respect that. So many guys that y'all think is him wouldn't say nothing for they guy. I can respect that. So I got a lot of respect, man. Those guys earned my respect. Congratulations to the Sacramento Kings. Vivek Ranadive, Neil Ranadive, Draymond Green, Mike Brown, on down, Fox players, nothing but respect, man. Like I said, those guys will, they'll have to be dealt with as they continue on their journey. As we move forward, it is a quick turnaround. It is already Sunday night and we play the Lakers on Tuesday evening. I mean, just my initial thoughts. Obviously haven't gotten a chance to watch film on them yet, but they're playing very good basketball. D'Angelo at the point, Austin Reeves, whichever one you consider the point guard, they both have a lot of ball handling responsibilities. Austin Reeves has been playing lights out for the past 2 and a half months. D'Angelo Russell found his stroke those last couple games against Memphis. Rui Hachimura's been playing great basketball. Jared Vanderbilt, Swiss Army knife, does it all. Obviously you got LeBron James at the 4, goes without saying. Anthony Davis at the 5, goes without saying. Troy Brown coming off the bench. Rui's been coming off the bench as well. Giving these guys great minutes. Malik Beasley coming in shooting. Hadn't found his stroke, but he's a shooter and you gotta respect that. And at any moment, you know, he can get going. OG D-Ham. Sagnol matchup, baby. Looking forward to that. It'll be a tough matchup. You know, this team has been playing better basket— as good or better basketball as anybody in the league since the trade deadline. They are a complete team. The vibes around the team is great. They play really good brand of basketball. They defend, they have, they present some challenges on the offensive end as well. It'll be up to us to, to meet that force with force. You know, they're gonna rebound the basketball. They've done that incredibly well. And then also for us to get into the things that we're gonna need to get into from an offensive standpoint, you can't allow them to turn you over and get out in transition. They're tough in transition as anybody is. AD's been playing out of his mind defensively. I think he averaged 5.5 blocks a game last series over the course of 6 games. That's incredible. You know, so it's a really good team. It'll be a tough matchup. You know, they do play a lot of size, you know, and so a lot of length. They have Jared Vanderbilt's guard and point guard's at 6'9". You know, so they play a lot of length. It'll be a chess match as it always is. Steve Kerr is great in those. Always trusted Steve in a chess match. You know, he was to, Draymond Green has been great in this past series. He's always been great. So I'm looking forward to actually getting our game plan tomorrow, but it'll be a good series. And then obviously, you know, you got Steph versus LeBron. It's the first time we've seen this since 2018. And it's also, and it's the very first time we've, we've seen this before the NBA Finals. I'm not sure if there's ever been a Warriors-Lakers matchup or meaningful matchup at any point in this, you know, playoffs. I'm excited about this. I'm really excited about this. You know, it's the Lakers, it's Los Angeles, and it's the motherfucking Dubs, baby. Gotta love it. Gotta appreciate it. Bay Area, stand up. So I'm looking forward to this matchup. It'll be a hard-fought matchup. They're not laying down. We're not laying down. You know, they got— Draymond Green. They got a GOAT, we got a GOAT. Gotta love it. I'm looking forward to it. Before we get outta here, the Heat goes up 1-0 on the Knicks. Stephen A.'s worst nightmare. Stephen A., much love, my brother. Good luck to your Knicks. Jimmy Butler is still playing out of his mind. I wouldn't necessarily say out of his mind because Jimmy has shown to be that guy, you know? So, but he's playing incredible basketball. It'll be interesting to see if Julius Randle gets back for game 2. You definitely don't wanna go down 0-2 headed to South Beach. I think with them losing 0-1, he was shooting today, he'll be out there in game 2. But he's missed some time these last few weeks and rhythm and all of that starts to come into play. Conditioning, fit, because now they gotta fit him in. Like it's not like you're just sticking somebody. Julius has the ball a lot in that offense. So then guys gotta find their spots, you know? Where they get their shots. And so it's a lot of moving parts in that series. But the Heat takes a 1-0 lead. The Denver Nuggets takes a 1-0 lead versus the Suns. I actually got a chance to watch that game. Jamal Murray. Wow. What a performance. Incredible performance. Bruce Brown, big, big, big pickup for the Denver Nuggets. Changes a lot of things for those guys. Bruce Brown and— Draymond Green. KCP, Michael Porter Jr. being healthy. Joker didn't even have it really going well with his scoring, but rebounded the hell outta the ball. Rebounded the ball absolutely incredible. And they took a 1-0 lead. It was an analytical person's dream and a non-analytical person nightmare. D-Book shot very efficient, didn't shoot threes. The Phoenix Suns didn't shoot many threes, but they shot well. And Denver, as you know, won by 20. So the analytical guys was seeing that and eating that up. Shoot the three, shoot the three, shoot the three. It'll be interesting to see what adjustments the Suns will make going into game 2. And then tomorrow we have the game 1 of Boston versus Philly. Absolutely sucks that Joel Embiid is doubtful to play. Probably will be out for the first couple games. You're talking the LCL sprain, 4 to 6 weeks. If he gets back in 3, you're lucky. I'm not even sure if it's been 2 full weeks since he's, since he's been hurt. You hate to see that. This is the matchup everybody's been wanting to see all year in the Eastern Conference, and now Joel goes down. You hate to see it. Hope he gets back, wishing him a speedy recovery. But you all should understand, health is a big part of the playoffs. Making it to the end healthy, it's a big part of who's win, who wins. And I know people will say quick, "Oh, this person will hurt." That's a part of it. Your durability and how long you can go. Now obviously he had a like bang, bang play. You hate to see those. Team that stays the healthiest. That's a big part of it. It's a part of the playoffs. Gotta get through it. See if James Harden can remuster some of that Houston days and make everything happen. Maybe you still game 1 at home without Joel. Then that leaves less pressure for Joel. As long as they win, it leaves less pressure for Joel to get back. More time for him to recover. You start losing, changes things. Then it's like, man, he really can't, like, there's nothing you can do. So we'll see. I wish him a speedy recovery. Looking forward to checking that series out tomorrow. But most importantly, I am looking forward to getting the film, getting our game plan, and getting ready for these Lakers. Till next time, that's a wrap from the Draymond Green Show. Peace. Oh yeah, like the bean! Light it! Light the beam! Peace. 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.