Just how valuable is Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green?
On Wednesday, the Warriors got a full-fledged look at basketball life without Green, who rested on the bench. The Warriors couldn’t finish a comeback attempt and lost to the Denver Nuggets.
Green’s absence had the biggest impact on defense.
Denver's Darrell Arthur took advantage of the situation, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting. Arthur is 0-of-3 with two turnovers when guarded by Green this season, and 24-of-34 with three turnovers when guarded by any other Warriors player.
The Nuggets had 34 uncontested looks on their shots, according to our video tracking (accounting for 39 percent of their shots). Entering the day, the Warriors were allowing only 24 uncontested looks per game (accounting for 27 percent of opponents’ shots).
Andrew Bogut did not serve the same presence that Green usually does when the Warriors opt for their small lineup. On Wednesday, when Bogut was the only big man, the Nuggets were 18-of-35 from the field (51 percent).
In the other three games against Denver, when Green was the lone big man on the floor, the Nuggets were 11-of-34 from the field (32 percent).
Also of note: The Nuggets were 33-of-37 on free throws. The 37 attempts were the second-most by a team against the Warriors this season. The only team with more was the Toronto Raptors, with 39, on Nov. 17 (the Warriors won 115-110).
Lastly, the Warriors were outrebounded by 10. It’s the fourth time this season they’ve been outrebounded by at least 10. The Warriors lost two of those games; the other was against the Dallas Mavericks, on Dec. 30.
Green is averaging 12.7 rebounds in his past seven games.
