Why Warriors’ Draymond Green has improved his 3-point shooting

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OAKLAND – The Warriors’ forward spent plenty of time this season in the trainer’s room nursing pain in his right foot, his left knee and his right shoulder. Now, Draymond Green said he appears ready to inflict pain on everyone else.

“I feel as good as I’ve felt over the last few weeks in a long time,” Green said. “That makes a difference.”

Not only does that make a difference in Green bolstering the Warriors’ intensity, defending bruising big men and offering all the intangibles that make his contributions more complex than just reading a box score. That has also made a difference in Green addressing his perceived weaknesses.

Opponents rarely have an answer for Green stopping them. They often have an answer to stop Green, though. Given that Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant Klay Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins warrant more defensive attention, opponents often want Green to shoot. Lately, Green has made teams regret giving him that open invitation.

In the Warriors’ 120-114 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Green finished with a season-high 20 points while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3. In the past four games, Green has gone a combined 7-of-14 from deep.

“He does so many things for us that we don’t need him to score. But when he does, it’s great,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “People play us a certain way when he’s on the floor. They’ll generally play off of him. If he can knock down a couple of threes, it’s great.”

Rarely did Green punish defenses for daring him to shoot.

He went through a nine-game stretch in December in which he shot 28.6 percent from 3. He went a combined 0-of-6 from deep through four games in November. Through 11 games in December, Green made 26.7 percent of his 3’s. Those numbers worsened through 12 games in January (25.8 percent). He only improved slightly through 11 games in February (27.6 percent).

In related news, Green entered training camp nursing an injured left knee and hip. He then missed a combined 13 games and was limited in two others from early November through early December because of an injured right toe in his right foot. Afterwards, Green shed off both rust and soreness.

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When opponents left Green open on the perimeter, he could always make the right pass to his sharpshooting teammates. But he often hesitated on passing or shooting. He also took shots that appeared flat. Nonetheless, Green maintained he stayed disciplined with his confidence and shooting routine. He also followed a friend’s advice about “being quick off the ground” to minimize indecisiveness.

“It’s obviously a huge confidence boost,” Curry said. “The way teams defend us with picking and choosing who they’re going to shade and send help to and things like that, everybody on the floor has to be a threat and be able to finish off plays.”

Green finished off so many plays against Cleveland. When he made open 3’s, Green talked trash to the Cavs. Just like in previous NBA Finals matchups, Green limited Cavs forward Tristan Thompson with causing deflections, forcing jump balls and playing him physically.

The Warriors liked Green’s play so much that when he apologized to Curry for a heatcheck after making the first two 3’s of the game, the NBA’s best shooter told him to recant.

“‘We want you to shoot that. You start the game like that, keep shooting,’” Curry recalled saying. “Confidence is contagious all the way around. We have to have that going into the playoffs.”

Do the Warriors need Green making shots in the playoffs? Yes and no.

The Warriors’ offense will largely center on Curry, Durant and Thompson. That partly hinges on Green exerting his versatile playmaking. But Curry, Durant and Thompson will receive easier looks if opponents suddenly fear Green can score.

“Keep the defense honest,” Green said. “It helps take the pressure off some of the other guys. Sometimes I don’t need to score at all. I try to feel that out game-by-game and just roll with it.”

Lately, Green’s feel has often resulted in his 3’s going into the basket. It marks a stark contrast when most of Greens’ feel centered on improving his well being in the trainer’s room.

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