Draymond Green is one of the smartest players in the NBA. This needs to be mentioned in almost every context that surrounds his performance, but it is especially noticeable in the rare moments when he makes a mistake. Things like that don’t happen to Draymond very often, but even the best players are susceptible to occasional gaffe.
Draymond came with his Warriors losing 103-100 with 8.7 seconds remaining on the clock. Golden State needed a score of 3 points to tie the game, but Green, either because he thought the Warriors had less time to work or because, for some unknown reason, thought he had been fouled, raised a 3-point miracle close to the half-court line as soon as he caught the pass on the pitch. He predictably missed and the Spurs came out with a 105-100 victory.
Draymond could have expected a foul in the attempt. That would put him on the line of two free throws when the Golden State needed three. But betting the entire game on that hope was probably not the Golden State plan. The Warriors could have played possession and got a better shot, or played the dirty game, waiting for Green to make both attempts and San Antonio to miss one and try again after that. No matter what the reasoning, the shot had a result as bad as the Golden State could have expected with possession.
But Green is human, and even the best NBA players make mistakes like that once in a while. Green was on the floor for a celebrity, as JR Smith forgot the score at the end of game 1 of the 2018 NBA finals. Smith’s teammate LeBron James launched an internal pass from his own table the following season. Mistakes are part of basketball, and a rare from Green helped San Antonio win tonight.