Warriors' Draymond Green 'Gained a F--k Ton of Respect' for Rockets in NBA Playoffs
It may be of little solace to the Houston Rockets after they lost to the Golden State Warriors in seven games in their first-round series, but they at least earned the respect of Draymond Green.
"Gained a lot of respect for them," Green told Kelly Iko of The Athletic after Sunday's Game 7. "We played them in regular-season games, but you don't really know someone until you play them in a playoff series. I think we got to know those guys very well. Tough as hell.
"They earned a lot of respect from me. A bunch. You go through a playoff series against somebody, one of two things happen—you completely lose respect for them or gain a lot of respect. And I gained a f--k ton of respect. F--k ton. F--k ton."
On paper, a No. 7 seed talking about the respect he gained for a No. 2 seed may seem a bit strange.
However, the Warriors are anything but a normal No. 7 seed given the championship pedigree of Green, Stephen Curry and head coach Steve Kerr along with the star power that Jimmy Butler added during a February trade.
Golden State also went 23-8 in its final 31 regular-season games and was favorites to defeat Houston going into the series.
But a Rockets team with a young core that has nowhere near the history of postseason success as Curry and Green in particular pushed the Warriors to the full seven games in a physical series that was defined by chippy play and drastic momentum swings.
It would have been easy for Houston to fold after it fell into a 3-1 hole, but it won two straight to force the decisive Game 7. It even defeated the Warriors in San Francisco in Game 6 to push the series to the brink.
Ultimately, the Golden State defense and balanced scoring attack proved too much for the Rockets in Sunday's Game 7.
Houston managed just 89 points, while Buddy Hield thrived on his way to 33 points on 9-of-11 shooting from deep. Curry took over in the fourth quarter as a scorer after remaining quiet for much of the game and finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and two steals.
As for Green, he did a little bit of everything like he usually does and posted 16 points, six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal.
Next up is a team without the extensive championship history as well in the Minnesota Timberwolves, although Anthony Edwards led them to the Western Conference Finals a season ago.
He will have to go through Curry and Co. this time around if he wants to return.
