The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are 8-0 in the NBA playoffs, and a third straight Finals match is looking more likely than ever.
However, to Draymond Green, the Cavaliers’ path to the Finals has been a bit easier than the Warriors.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Green said he’s been disappointed with the quality of postseason play, saying he thought the Cavs’ series have been very one-sided.
“I thought teams would compete a little harder,” Green said. “I just watched San Antonio-Houston. I like to watch good basketball. When you watch Cleveland play, you’re only watching one side of the good basketball. That’s kind of weak.
“I like watching a good game, not even necessarily that it’s going to be a close game. I like to watch teams playing good basketball. When you watch them, you watch one team playing good basketball and everybody else do something. I don’t know what that something is.”
Green is not wrong, of course. After a close sweep over the Indiana Pacers in the first round, the Cavaliers stormed through the Toronto Raptors in the second round, outscoring them by 61 points in four games.
It’s worth wondering, however, Green’s motivation for his comments. While he said it’s far too early for the Warriors to think about the Finals, he may still be plotting the seeds for a potential rematch with the Cavs.
In October, Green told NBA.com’s David Aldridge that he wants to “annihilate” the Cavs in a Finals rematch.
“If Cleveland comes out of the east, I want to destroy Cleveland. No ifs, ands and buts about it. But I also know that there’s steps to get to that point. And if and when we get to that point, I want to annihilate them … I want to completely destroy them. No ifs, ands or buts about it. That won’t change. I’m not saying we’re going to look forward to that. Like I said, there’s a long road ahead. And it’ll be a tough, tough road to get there. Nonetheless, if we get there, and they get there, I want to destroy them.”
Asked again about his comments after the Warriors eliminated the Jazz on Monday, Green did say the Cavs have been playing well, but their opponents have been weaker.
“I think Cleveland’s been playing great basketball. You watch them, it’s been amazing. And then you watch the other teams that they’re playing against — not so much.”
The Cavs and Warriors still have four wins to go before they can truly think about the NBA Finals. But the postseason has proven that few teams in either conference truly seemed poised to stack up against either team. With that knowledge, it certainly seems like Green is already trying to get into the Cavs’ heads.
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