The Golden State Warriors suffered a 114-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, an area that is hurting the team as they remain without Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. While the Warriors wait for Curry's injury to heal, the team is trying to somewhat keep the ship afloat, but they face another dilemma as it involves Draymond Green.
The non-Green minutes on Monday night were crucial for Los Angeles to come back strongly and take control of the game in the final 17 minutes of the game. Without Green's defensive ability to keep players like Kawhi Leonard and others in check, the Clippers outscored Golden State 53-30 in a span of nearly 17 minutes.
However, the dilemma is Green's minutes, as he turns 36 on Wednesday, his minutes are now subject to monitoring. He's averaging 26.7 minutes per game as he played 31 minutes on Monday, marking the 11th time he's scored more than 31 in 50 games this season.
Warriors' Steve Kerr on Draymond Green's minutes
The problem is compounded by the Warriors not having Curry, the team now has to figure out how to compensate in this area, although it goes without saying how important Green is.
"He's still one of the great defenders in the league," Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. "And they set the tone in that first half, and we were able to keep the lead for most of the third quarter. But they took the lead late in the third quarter, and got it down to two going into the fourth."
"But we had to take him out. He can't play the whole game. And he played 31 minutes, which is a lot for him at this level," Kerr added.
During that aforementioned stretch, the Warriors lost their 16-point lead and trailed by 17 points in the final frame. At any rate, Golden State looks to bounce back with its next game on Thursday night against the Houston Rockets.
