Warriors will miss Green on both sides of the ball
Draymond Green is suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals for excessive flagrant fouls. He is the first player suspended in the NBA Finals since Jerry Stackhouse in 2006 (1 game for a flagrant foul on Shaquille O’Neal).
Green has made his presence felt on both sides of the ball.
Green fills up the stat sheet
Green has 315 points, 203 rebounds and 123 assists in the 2016 playoffs. He is the seventh player in NBA history to have at least 300 points, 200 rebounds and 100 assists in a single postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The others: Wilt Chamberlain (1967), Bill Walton (1977), Larry Bird (1981, 1984, 1987), Charles Barkley (1993), Tim Duncan (2003) and LeBron James (2012, 2015).
Green had 13 triple-doubles during the season, a Golden State Warriors single-season record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He’s also the second Warriors player ever with multiple triple-doubles in a single postseason, joining Tom Gola.
During the NBA Finals, Green leads the Warriors in rebounds, assists and steals, and he’s also their third-leading scorer.
Life without Green
Green is the only Warriors player to play in all of the Warriors’ 88 wins this season (an NBA record including the postseason). He missed only one game this season — a 112-110 loss at the Nuggets on Jan. 13.
In the NBA Finals, no Warriors player has played more minutes than Green’s 152 (38 minutes per game). Only LeBron James has played more minutes on either team.
With Green on the court, the Warriors have outscored the Cavaliers by 13.6 points per 100 possessions, as their offensive efficiency is 113.8. With Green on the bench, the Cavaliers outscored the Warriors by 9.6 points per 100 possessions, with the Warriors’ offensive efficiency dropping to 98.3.
For the entire postseason, the Warriors have a plus-153 point differential with Green on the court and a negative-15 point differential with him on the bench.
Lockdown defender
Another area where Green will be missed is on the defensive end. He’s spent time this series guarding each member of the Cavaliers’ “Big Three,” and he’s held the three to a combined 36 percent shooting this series.
He has faced James for a total of 18 action plays. James is 5-for-14 with four turnovers in those possessions. He’s also held Kevin Love to 5-for-13 shooting and Kyrie Irving to 4-for-12 shooting.
However, with Green out, that could mean Andre Iguodala moves back into the starting lineup. That’s not necessarily good news for James’ offensive output. In Game 4, Iguodala was James’ final defender on 32 plays, holding him to 0-for-2 shooting with 3 turnovers.
