It was a challenge if anything.
Draymond Green was fuming after the Warriors’ 119-100 Game 3 loss to the Pelicans Friday. He stayed up most of the night rewatching and analyzing the game.
“I can’t sleep when we lose like that,” Green told ESPN.
When he was watching, Green noticed his teammate, Kevin Durant, wasn’t playing to his All-Star caliber and decided to send him a late-night text.
“I just challenged him to be who he is. I had to tell him,” Green told ESPN. “I didn’t see him attacking or being aggressive enough on both ends of the floor like we need him to be. You know, I don’t hold back. When I see something’s wrong, I have to voice my opinion. There were no hard feelings. We’re just trying to win a ballgame.”
Durant, who scored 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting and grabbed just three rebounds in Game 3, woke up the Saturday morning to Green’s “long-a** text message” and responded: “I got you.”
Clearly, Durant took Green’s mindful text to heart. In Game 4 on Sunday, Durant had a mammoth performance scoring a team-high 38 points, which helped the Warriors sail past the Pelicans, 118-92.
After the game, Durant said Green told him to play more aggressively and that’s what he tried to do.
“I wasn’t aggressive in Game 3, and I knew that,” Durant told ESPN. “It’s good to know that teammates got your back. It was good to hear that from him.”
The Warriors head back to the Bay area with a 3-1 series lead and are scheduled to host the Pelicans on Tuesday.
