Draymond Green Had A Minor Meltdown, Then Said He Was ‘Happy’ The Warriors Lost

Draymond Green wasn’t happy on the court during Golden State‘s fourth quarter collapse Friday night, but he said he was happy afterwards.

Green had a bit of a meltdown in crunch time of a game in which the NBA’s best team blew a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter in an overtime game Memphis would eventually win. Draymond was visibly upset off the ball while Golden State nursed a two-point lead with less than 40 seconds to play, gesturing wildly and yelling as Kevin Durant ran the play.

Durant pulled up for a three at the top of the arc and missed, leaving Green motionless with his hands on his knees as Memphis rebounded and called timeout. The Grizzlies tied the game and forced overtime. Green and Durant then had an animated discussion about Golden State’s offensive sets.

The Warriors led by as much as 24 in the game. Afterwards, Green told the media he wasn’t mad, he was “happy” the team had lost.

“I’m actually happy we lost today,” Green sold the San Francisco Chronicle. “There are some things we need to correct to win a championship.”

Durant told the media that Green wasn’t yelling at him about his shot selection, but the team’s decision to go away from what was working earlier in the game.

“He didn’t say anything about the shot if that’s what you want to know, but he said we should have stuck with the pick and roll,” Durant told reporters. “He’s very passionate, you know, so it looked a little different. But it was about us staying with what we did all game and wondering why we went away from it.”

Either way, Memphis has been a rare weak spot for Golden State this season. They’ve lost to them twice, including a 110-89 blowout loss on the road in December. It’s the first team to beat the Warriors twice in the regular season in two years. The animated arguments on the court aren’t going to help the optics that things aren’t perfect in Warriorland.

Here are two quotes conveniently placed together in the Chronicle game story.

“Obviously, we have a long way to go,” said Durant, who finished with 27 points. “We’re still learning about each other.”

Added Green: “I’m kind of thrilled that we lost, because you usually make corrections when you lose.”

Golden State still holds the league’s best record at 31-6, but they appear to be on shakier ground than they’ve been in the recent past. Steph Curry is still brilliant, and was once again on Friday night. But, suddenly, blowing leads has become part of Golden State’s DNA.