With a wraps on his left shoulder and knees, as well as gauze in his right nostril to stop a bloody nose, Draymond Green set a Warriors franchise record with 10 steals.
Friday night’s performance is now the crown jewel on Green’s resume for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year — an award he’s finished second in back-to-back seasons. And he did it while he was battered and bruised.
“I’ve got to bring it on the defensive end,” Green told CSN after the 122-107 win in Memphis. “A lot of guys on this team can score. We don’t need me to score.”
Green recorded a triple-double without scoring — 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals. Elias Sports is reporting that it’s the first triple-double in NBA history without points involved, which is perhaps the most incredible feat of Green’s career. Draymond scored just 4 points and took just 6 shots.
He also spent a bunch of this game marking Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph in the post, which makes his 10 steals even more impressive. His blitzing style of defense caught the Grizzlies off guard all night. Green was one steal away from tying the NBA record of 11.
The previous franchise record for steals was shared by Rick Barry and Michael Ray Richardson at 9 apiece. Green forced 7 of the steals in the first half. It was Green’s 18th career triple-double in his fifth season and the Warriors are now 18-0 in games he records a triple-double. For good measure, Green added 5 blocks on the night, too.
A reunion for Kevin Durant with Oklahoma City is on tap for Saturday.
Here’s a video of one of Green’s steals. Congratulations on one hell of a night, Draymond.
Draymond Green with his 7th steal of the FIRST HALF, finishes w/ the dunk! Andre likes it. ?? pic.twitter.com/89kDY8n9h8
— Warriors Talk (@JaeAzizi) February 11, 2017