Draymond Green says suspension allowed Warriors to ‘explore,’ sparked run،
SALT LAKE CITY – The Golden State Warriors are finding some momentum.
At 26-25, they are above .500 for the first time since December 23. They have won five games in a row, tying their longest streak of the season. They have also won three straight road games by at least 20 points for the second time in franchise history.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry is the first to admit the team hasn't “done anything yet” as they're just 1½ games above the Utah Jazz – who the Warriors beat 129 -107 Monday night – for the 10th seed. the Western Conference. However, pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together.
The Warriors have remained upbeat throughout their turbulent season, but this is the first time since their 6-1 start that Golden State has something to show for it.
Was there a tangible inflection point for the Warriors?
“I think my suspension helped me in a weird way,” forward Draymond Green said after Monday’s game. “Not that I wanted to be suspended, but I think it helped us find different things that we can visit and explore.”
Green served an indefinite suspension that cost him 16 games for punching Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the head just weeks after serving a five-game suspension for putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a strangulation.
“We've been doing it a certain way for so long, there's a lot of comfort in our schemes and our rotations. When you're a little shocked, that's how you react,” Curry said. “[Draymond’s suspension] forced us to try new things and sometimes be extremely uncomfortable without losing confidence.”
Green's suspension thrust third-year forward Jonathan Kuminga into the starting lineup, a position he hasn't relinquished since. According to Green, this was the biggest game-changer.
“Since then, JK has taken off and that has set the stage for this team,” Green said. “Good faith option #2 on our team. Now you're able to understand different things we can go to.”
“Our offense is no longer the same as before,” he continued. “We want to do different things. You're able to find different combinations that work. And then it's just plug and play.”
After scoring 14 points against the Jazz on Monday, Kuminga scored in double figures for a career-high 31 consecutive games. He was one of eight Warriors to finish with double-digit scoring, tied for the most in a game this season.
Kuminga isn't the only new thing in the fabric of this Warriors team, as rookies Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis have also cracked the rotation. Recently, Golden State added a two-way player and man occupying their 15th spot on the roster.
Meanwhile, Curry averaged nine 3-pointers over a three-game stretch for the fifth time in his career. Only one other player has done it even once in NBA history (Damian Lillard in 2020), according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
As for Green, he helped propel the Warriors' defense to fourth place after ranking 28th during his suspension.
“You throw me back into the fray … and now you have all these pieces you can count on,” Green said.
When asked if it was as simple as one player changing everything, Warriors interim head coach Kenny Atkinson simply said, “Yes.”
“It's not just his play, but his influence on other people on the court,” said Atkinson, filling in for head coach Steve Kerr, who was in Serbia for the funeral of Warriors assistant Dejan Milojevic. “Put him in the right positions, he erases all our mistakes, and we make a lot of them…and then offensively, he really helped us.”
Atkinson couldn't pinpoint the exact moment the fuse was lit for the Warriors, saying it was an accumulation of the work his team has done this season.
But a big part of that, he pointed out, is the emergence of young players such as Kuminga who give something new to Golden State.
“We have these young guys who are starting to break through that developmental ceiling, breaking through it,” Atkinson said. “We're a strong team. We're healthier and we feel comfortable starting all these guys.”
