Draymond Green Defends Jordan Poole: Warriors 'Fed off That Energy' vs. Kings

Jordan Poole played poorly for the majority of the Golden State Warriors' first-round series win over the Sacramento Kings, but Draymond Green explained he brought more to the table than his production.

Green discussed the Game 7 victory on his podcast and pointed to a specific moment in the contest when Poole added much-needed energy to a timeout huddle.

"His demeanor tonight was incredible," Green said (around the 16:25 mark). "71-64, we're in a timeout. He came into the timeout, and he said, 'Hey, man. They getting a little tight now. All of a sudden, floaters short, shots short. They're getting a little tight, turn the pressure up now.' We fed off that energy. It was huge."

That Green is publicly defending Poole is notable considering he punched his teammate during a training-camp practice ahead of the season and ended up publicly and privately apologizing and stepping away from the Warriors for a short time.

The energy was clearly important, but Golden State will need Poole to be better against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round than when he averaged 12.0 points per game behind 33.8 percent shooting from the field and 25.7 percent shooting from deep against the Kings.

If he can improve on those numbers while bringing the same type of energy Green highlighted, the Warriors could be in an ideal position to defeat the Lakers and continue their championship defense.