Draymond Green weighs in on being benched in the fourth quarter of Game 4 / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Kyle Terada-Scanpix Credit Kyle Terada-Scanpix

With the Boston Celtics up 90-86 with more than seven minutes remaining in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Warriors' coach Steve Kerr subbed Kevon Looney (11 rebounds and 6 points) and Andrew Wiggins (17 points and 16 rebounds) in for Draymond Green and Nemanja Bjelica.

Player of the Game EFF 36 Stephen Curry Points 43 Accuracy 14-26 Rebounds 10 Assists 4

After Marcus Smart made a free throw out of that timeout to push the lead to five, the Warriors outscored Boston 11-3 to take a 97-94 lead with Green out.

However, it was Green who made some of the biggest plays of the night, grabbing an offensive rebound off a Klay Thompson missed three-pointer and then later driving and dishing to Looney for a layup that pushed the Warriors up 102-97 with one minute left.

Green is shooting 6/26, including 0/9 from three-point range, and has scored a total of 17 points with 18 fouls in the Finals. He's averaging 7.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Still, to have him sit late in a must-win Finals game was a rare sight.

Told that Green did not look thrilled to sit, Kerr said he didn't see his player's reaction but added that he doesn't anyone to be happy about being taken out.

"We took him out and put Loon in around maybe 7:40, which was our plan, anyway," Kerr explained. "But Loon was playing so well and Jordan Poole was playing so well, so we just stayed with the group."

"He’s the ultimate competitor," Kerr said. "Came back in. Made huge plays down the stretch. He finishes a game with 4 steals, 8 assists, 9 boards. Look, this is a tough series for him to score because of Boston’s size and athleticism, but he’s still impacting the game at a huge level. And he knows we’re just going to do whatever it takes to win."

"I'm definitely never thrilled coming out of the game with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter in a must-win game," Green said. "I'm not going to sit here and act like I was thrilled. I'm a competitor," the Warriors veteran forward admitted.

Draymond Green

MIN:29.68PTS:7.51 (54.21%)REB:7.17As:6.71ST:1.34BL:1.03TO:2.91GM:65ProfileNBA2021/2022

"But if that’s what coach decides, then you roll with it. I had to keep my head in the game and whenever I went back in, try to make some plays. That was just my mindset."

Green's offensive struggles in the Finals continued as he missed six of seven shots.

“There's so much trust in how we do things," said Steph Curry, who had 43 points and 10 rebounds. "And decisions that coach makes and responsibility falls on us as players; that Loon went in there, dominated the paint, got us some big rebounds, created a presence. Draymond came back in and had some juice and some life on the defensive end."

Green has often defined himself as a 16-game player, since he’s built a legacy closing playoff games with his defensive savvy, big stops and vision on offense. But even his mother, Mary Babers, called out her son's offensive game in a tweet.

"Please (people) stop asking me what's wrong with Dray," she tweeted. "I don’t know! Maybe this is a clone! Where is the Draymond that helped get us here!" she wondered.

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