Draymond’s Scoring Stuns NBA Fans as Curry, Warriors Extend Series vs. LeBron, Lakers

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Draymond Green’s importance to the Golden State Warriors dynasty is indisputable. It’s just rarely been because of his impact as a scorer.

But it was Green’s 20 points on Wednesday night that helped lead the Dubs to a 121-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals, keeping the team’s season alive.

He added 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block, while Steph Curry (27 points, eight assists) and Andrew Wiggins (25 points, seven rebounds, five dimes) had strong games for the Warriors as well.

Anthony Davis (23 points and nine boards) and LeBron James (25 points, nine rebounds) paced the Lakers. The Lakers also received troubling potential news regarding AD, as he left the game in the fourth quarter with a head injury and was escorted away in a wheelchair, per TNT and B/R’s Chris Haynes.

That will be a situation to monitor as the series moves back to Los Angeles. But this was Green’s night, and NBA Twitter was a mix of surprise and delight at his offensive performance:

Green’s ability to be a factor as a scorer is more important than you might think, however. The Warriors are now 27-2 in the last 29 games where he’s scored at least 18 points, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic, and 4-0 in these playoffs when he reached double-digit scoring.

They are also now 37-9 all time in the playoffs when he scores 15 or more points, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

Don’t be fooled, however—Green made his usual impact on the defensive end, too:

The Warriors still have work to do, trailing 3-2 in this series. They would probably prefer Klay Thompson find his stroke (10 points, 3-of-12 from the field, 2-of-6 from three) rather than need Green to have a big offensive performance. Since a 30-point outburst in Game 2, Thompson has struggled from the field in this series.

But the Dubs will take the offense from wherever they can get it, and on Wednesday night—to the surprise of almost everyone in the NBA community—a nice chunk of it came from Green.