"Draymond Green was a whole team's injury report unto himself after spending the previous 48 minutes jostling with 7-foot bruiser Ivica Zubac in Monday's loss to the Clippers. There was no dramatic incident, no hard foul that caused those afflictions. Those occurred through the course of play: Green diving into the bench for a loose ball, and then defending Kawhi Leonard on a drive and falling down."
"The advanced statistics still paint him as one of the league's best on that side, already accruing 1.2 defensive win shares in just 30 games. But having to battle players six inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than the 6-6, 230-pounder is much more of a chore at age 35 than in the past, and something the Warriors have hoped to avoid this season."
Draymond Green expended intense physical effort against the Clippers, resulting in soreness from diving plays and collisions rather than a single acute foul. He described himself as exhausted while emphasizing his role in supplying physicality and energy for winning games. Green landed on an injury report for a subsequent matchup with the Bucks, who present significant size challenges. Advanced metrics still rate him among the league's top defenders, but age and repeated battles with much larger opponents make full-time post defense more taxing. He remains smart, respected, and capable of limiting elite bigs in select matchups.
Read at The Mercury News
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