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Ohm Youngmisuk
San Francisco – Less than 30 seconds in the game on Tuesday night, Draymond Green persecuted Giannis Antetokounmpo around a screen and blocked the shot of the Milwaukee Bucks superstar under the basket.
It was the first of four blocks, two robberies and a defensive jewel that Green delivered to keep antekounmppo at 20 points in 5 of 16 shots when the Golden State Warriors beat the 104-93 bucks in Chase Center.
Green not only helped the Warriors win without Stephen Curry.
“Obviously, if we continue winning and closing this year, definitely,” Green told him if he believes he has a case to be appointed the best defender of the League. “I look around the league and I don’t see many players who impact the game on the defensive wing like me. I don’t see many players by completely throwing the offensive of an entire team like me. A thousand percent.
“Especially with Wemby [the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama] Going down, it seemed that he had won him. And now it’s there. So, 1 million percent have a case, and I will continue building that case for these next 13 games. Tonight was an excellent example of that. “
Green’s defense contributed to the worst fire shooting game in the last two seasons, according to ESPN Research. Antekounmpo triggered 0-for-7 when Green played it, which also coincided with the more field goal attempts of the Bucks superstar without a brand in a game against a single competition of competition in his career, according to the second Spectrum. The 93 Bucks points also marked a minimum season.
Combined with the 24 points of Jimmy Butler, 10 assists and 8 rebounds, Green helped Golden State to recover after a shameful defeat at home on Monday before a Denver Nuggets team that played without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun.
“Draymond, that defense tonight in Giannis was incredible,” said the Warriors coach Steve Kerr, about Green, who has nine blocks in total in his last two games. “To keep it in five field goals, Draymond showed why he is still one of the great defenders of the world. It was not just defense; it was leadership, energy.”
With Wembanyama out for the season, Green, Evan Mobley de Cleveland, Dyson Daniels de Atlanta, Jaren Jackson Jr. De Memphis, the Ivica Zubac of the Clippers and the Dort Luguentz of Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous-Alxander and Jalen Williams Contenders.
Rudy Gobert de Minnesota is the prevailing defensive player of the year.
“You have some people who vote on the east coast who probably see us play four times a year,” Green said. “And if you look at the statistics, you say: ‘Oh, Draymond averages a robbery and a block’. Those numbers do not jump from the page. [their] offense? It is a different story.
“This award is widely based on statistics, and those statistics do not always tell the story … but I want another, and I am not yet retired. I still have a chance.”
