Draymond Green on Warriors' Matchup with Rockets: 'It's Time to Play'

After his team clinched a spot in the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green sounded ready for the next challenge.

Ahead of Golden State's upcoming clash with the Houston Rockets, Green said, "It's time to play," according to ESPN.com's Chris Haynes.

Golden State eliminated the New Orleans Pelicans with a 113-104 win in Game 5 on Tuesday night, while the Rockets advanced past the Utah Jazz with a 112-102 victory in Game 5 of their series.

The Warriors are in search of their fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance, but the league's best team stands in their way, as Houston went 65-17 during the regular season.

Although a playoff meeting between the Warriors and Rockets has been anticipated all season, Green made it clear Tuesday that the Dubs don't care who they have to go through to reach their ultimate goal:

"Man, we won two championships in three years. We're not about to run off talking about how bad we want to play somebody. We want to win another championship, and it don't matter who's in the way of that. If you're in the way of that, then you happen to be in the way. But we're not about to run around like, 'Yeah, we want to play them in the conference finals.' For what? It doesn't matter to us who we play. However, we got them. All right, now let's get it. We get to it now.

"We've got a goal. Whoever is in the way of that goal, then we got to see you. You got to see us. All right now, they're in the way. Perfect. But we're not running around talking about, 'Man, we want them bad.' Nah, we want a championship bad. Another one."

In December, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said the Rockets were "obsessed" with beating the Warriors.

On Tuesday, Green shot down any notion that the Warriors are similarly sweating the Rockets:

"They have made it known that their team is built to beat us. Kind of their, like you said, obsession or whatever you want to call it—it is what it is. Like I've said before, all that stuff is cool. Obviously, you want to build your team to beat the defending champs because that's usually how you have to go to win a championship. So, all understandable. That stuff has been said for about a year now. It's time to play."

The Warriors had bumps along the way this season and finished seven games behind Houston.

Also, in three regular-season meetings, the Rockets went 2-1 against the Warriors, which could breed confidence for Houston entering the Western Conference Finals.

Injuries played a big role in the Warriors' drop-off, but they are fully healthy with Green, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson all ready to go when the Dubs and Rockets meet in Game 1 on Monday.

The 28-year-old Green tends to raise his performance level come playoff time, and that has been the case once again this season.

In 10 playoff games, he's averaging 13.1 points, 11.5 rebounds and 9.0 assists, all of which are significantly higher than his regular-season production (11.0, 7.6, 7.3).

While it can be argued that no team has a better quartet of stars than Golden State, the Houston trio of probable MVP James Harden, point guard Chris Paul and rising big man Clint Capela will likely be the biggest challenge the Warriors have faced en route to the NBA Finals in the past four years.