Damian Lillard might think twice before doing that again.
Portland’s fifth-year guard made an interesting decision ahead of Tuesday’s game against Golden State, commenting on how he believed the Warriors defense had been weakened by the departure of center Andrew Bogut.
““It’s not the same,” Lillard told CSNNW. “They are a great offensive team and I think they will still be a good defensive team, but it’s different than when (Andrew) Bogut is not back there. It’s just not the same.”
True the Warriors had struggled on both ends of the floor to start the season, but Tuesday night’s performance, a 127-104 blowout win on the Blazers home floor, reiterated the fact that this Warriors team is not one you want to be giving bulletin board material.
Unsurprisingly, it was Draymond Green who took the comments to heart, and responded with a fantastic defensive performance, finishing with three steals and two blocks to go along with his always stellar individual defense.
After the game, the outspoken forward thanked Lillard for the added motivation.
“I love when people say stuff like that,” Draymond told reporters. “”I take it personal, so I appreciate it. It really got me going on that end tonight. And I felt amazing out there, and I think our defense was amazing.
“So yeah I love when people say stuff like that. Continue to do it.”
The entire Golden State defense stepped up on Tuesday night, especially in the third quarter, holding the Blazers to 20 points on 30 percent shooting while Stephen Curry went on an offensive tear. The stretch decided the game.
It was a complete team effort,” Draymond said. “Everybody was swarming around, getting deflections, cutting off the lane to the rim. We did a lot of things well and I think it was all based on everybody just really flying around and helping each other.
“That was great for us to really come out and put that kind of game together on the defensive end, especially when our defense has been called out, that there’s no anchor and it’s not the same and all that. I think some opinions will change sooner than later. But until then, we’ll just keep doing that. And when they change, we’ll keep doing that still. It was fun to do that.”
Message to future Warriors opponents: keep your opinions to yourself.