Draymond Green has made an interesting revelation in his latest podcast episode with Baron Davis.
The four-time champion’s season ended when his Golden State Warriors lost Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Conference Semis.
The Dubs were without their star player Steph Curry for the series as he went down with a hamstring injury in Game 1.
It was always going to be tough for the Warriors to win from thereon, as the Timberwolves had both a physical and mental advantage over them.
Draymond Green was also not able to showcase his best against the Timberwolves as their offense was stacked with contributions from everyone.
However, there was one player on the T-Wolves, who Green heaped special praise about.
Green reveals he lost matchup his against Julius Randle
Julius Randle has been brilliant for the Timberwolves throughout the playoffs, but he elevated his performance in the series against the Warriors.
He averaged 25.2 PPG, 7.4 APG and 6.6 RPG, while shooting 53.3% from the field.
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These are phenomenal numbers, especially going up against a player like Green, who is one of the best defenders in the league.
The Warriors legend revealed it was only the second time in his career he had lost a matchup in the playoffs.
Green said: “The only other playoff series where I lost my matchup like that, I didn’t completely dominate my matchup, the only other series really in my career where I feel like I lost my matchup is Toronto, I feel like I lost my matchup to Pascal Siakam.”
The Raptors went onto beat the Warriors 4-2 to clinch their first ever championship and Pascal Siakam was key to that as he did well to get the better of Green, averaging 19.8 PPG and shot 50.5% from the field.
Green stated his matchup against Randle was a lot similar and admitted to losing out against the Timberwolves player.
“Julius was incredible and he played great basketball and honestly some of the shots he was taking was some of the shots we want him to take and he made them,” said the former Defensive Player of the Year.
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Green gives Julius Randle credit for his brilliance
Randle learned a lot from Kobe Bryant during his days with the LA Lakers. His shot-making ability is elite and a lot of this is due to the work he puts in.
Rudy Gobert recently revealed how hard Randle works on his game, and the hard work has shown up during this series..
The Timberwolves are a side led by Anthony Edwards, but Randle is a locker room leader who the team can learn a lot from.
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Receiving a compliment from a player of Green’s calibre is special and is proof of how brilliant the three-time All-Star really is.
In his podcast, Green also shared the story of the first time he met Julius Randle and how the two have continued battling since.
“We’ve been kind of having these battles since Ju came into the league and obviously this is the first one on the playoff level, but I got to give it to him man, he got the better of me.
“With all respect, I’m not the guy who hides from the truth, he was a tough cover, one of the tougher covers I’ve had in a playoff series,” added Green.
