OKLAHOMA CITY – Maybe Draymond Green’s shoulders were tired Tuesday night after the most tumultuous 48 hours of his NBA career.
He had been assessed a flagrant foul in Game 3, faced the possibility of being suspended for Game 4, had the foul upgraded by the NBA office and then fined $25,000.
Green’s performance in a 118-94 loss to Oklahoma City in Game 4 brought neither him nor the Warriors any comfort.
Game 3 was the worst of his four-year career, and Game 4 was about as bad.
“I don’t think the last 48 hours affected me,” Green said. “But I think it’s the first time in my life that I didn’t respond to critics. That’s what’s kind of been my story.”
A second-round draft pick in 2012 that was selected for the All-Star team in February played 38 minutes. The sum of his production was 6 points (1-of-7 shooting from the field), 11 rebounds, two assists, three steals, one blocked shot – and six turnovers.
Two nights after posting a career-worst minus-43, Green settled for a minus-30.
“I don’t really want to watch the film, because I already know what the problem is,” he said. “Well, I don’t know what the problem is. But I know what happened. I feel like watching the film is going to be like watching the same thing that we watched the other day.”
That’s two double-digit losses in a row to a team that hadn’t lost two consecutive games all season. That’s back-to-back forgettable showings by a player who thrives on vindicating and redeeming himself.
“Like I said before, I bring the energy to this team, and I have not been there,” he said. “I think our energy goes as my energy goes, and I’ve been awful.”
Green made the All-Star team on the strength of his all-around play. He led the team in assists (7.4) and rebounds (9.5), was third in scoring (14.0). He was the first player since Grant Hill in 1996-97 to average at least 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
That guy was no more present for Game 4 than he was for Game 3.
“I know I’ve got to be better in Game 5,” he said. “It’s all or nothing. We’ve put in too much work to go out like this. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself all summer going out like this.”
