The Green That the Boston Celtics Would Prefer Not to See

Of the many areas Boston needs to clean up heading into Game 3, handling the mental warfare brought on by Draymond Green has to be at or near the top of the list.

*** PREMIUM CONTENT, FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY ***

For 29 teams in the NBA, there’s a lot to not like about Draymond Green.

While he’s an elite defender, the 6-foot-6 forward is not overly athletic, doesn't have great size for the postion, and his Achilles heel - shooting the ball - is the one trait that teams are constantly looking to add to their roster.

None of that matters when it comes to Green who delivered a Masterclass performance in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on what mental warfare on the basketball court looks like.

Green had nine points, seven assists and five rebounds in Golden State’s 107-88 Game 2 win.

But more than the stats, Green had a presence that Boston simply had no answer for.

He spared no Celtics players when it came to putting them through a mental torture chamber with his physical play, trash-talk and skirting of the rules that collectively fueled a Game 2 win for the Warriors.

“There is an art to trash-talking,” Green said. “If you grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, it's naturally given to you. For me personally, growing up the way I did, you can't survive if you can't talk on the court. You go out there quiet if you want to. You play as good as you want. If you're quiet, they're going to think you're soft. They're going to try to bully you. That's just kind of the way I learned.”

No matter what adjustments are made from an Xs and O’s standpoint by Boston, they have to show a greater resolve and mental toughness in order to maintain control of this series.

Most of the Celtics tried to downplay Green’s impact immediately following Game 2.

But as important as it will be to be better defensively against Stephen Curry and the rest of the Golden State shooters, the Celtics know they have to do better in handling Green’s on-the-court tactics.

I asked Celtics wing Derrick White about this.

“Just trying to control what we can control,” he said. “There's a lot of things that go on during the game that's kind of out of our control. Believing in the man next to you and just kind of sticking with the team, not worry about those outside factors. I think at times in the last game we kind of lost it, but it's good to know that we'll get it back and try to lock in on what we're trying to do.”

And that's to win Game 3, which will be easier to do if they play with a higher level of mental toughness - something their head coach Ime Udoka has been preaching about all season.

Udoka knows all too well that Green’s focus in Game 2 was to shake his team mentally and get them to focus on him rather than their assignments.

How should they handle that in Game 3?

“I say be who you are. If you want to ignore it, ignore it. If you engage, engage. Do what you do. Be who you are,” Udoka said. “The main thing is to continue to stay composed.

He added, “For us, it’s to be who you are. I told them if I was a player, who I was, I would probably get a double technical immediately. But that’s not everybody. Do what you do. Block it out or meet physicality with physicality."