Draymond Green: 'It Hurts' Defending Zion Williamson in Back-to-Back Warriors Games

Back-to-backs are hard enough in the NBA without having to guard Zion Williamson.

Having to do so two nights in a row is going to enact a toll on the body. Just ask Draymond Green.

"It hurts," the Golden State Warriors forward said Wednesday when asked about guarding the New Orleans Pelicans star on back-to-back nights, per ESPN's Kendra Andrews. "He's gotten so much better over the last, what, first four years of his career."

The Warriors and Pelicans faced each other on Tuesday and Wednesday during a quirky stretch of their schedules. Golden State got the win in both matchups and improved to 4-1 on the season despite playing without Stephen Curry because of an ankle injury.

Much of that is a testament to Green, who provides veteran leadership and physical defense even though he isn't a significant scoring threat at this point of his career.

Williamson found success in the first matchup with 31 points and eight rebounds, but Green made the proper adjustments and helped hold him to 12 points on 5-of-20 shooting in the second game.

The Michigan State product stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, six assists, five blocks and one steal in the 104-89 win and drew praise from his head coach in the process.

"He's still one of the best defenders in the world, that's for sure," Steve Kerr said, per Andrews. "The way he battled out there, but also the way he led the energy…he was fantastic."

Fortunately for Green, he now gets a couple days off after battling down low with Williamson on back-to-back nights.

The Warriors don't play again until Saturday's matchup with the Houston Rockets when he will likely have to deal with Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Şengün.