The Golden State Warriors left the Crypto.com Arena with a 123-116 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Draymond Green, who played most of the game at center, made valuable defensive plays that pushed the team to win. During one sequence against the Lakers’ Luka Doncic, his defensive awareness caused Doncic to lose the ball late in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors’ win was mostly due to the offensive approach of Stephen Curry. The two-time MVP had 37 points and six assists on 4-for-11 shooting from downtown. The second-highest scorer was guard Brandin Podziemski, who finished the game with 28 points. Podz also had eight rebounds and six assists to help Golden State extend their win streak to four games.
However, many laud the defensive tenacity that Green displayed for his team. Watch the video below to see how he caused Doncic, an elite ballhandler, to turn the ball over.
DEFENSIVE 👏 MASTERMIND 👏@Money23Green is a savant. pic.twitter.com/2K1DnSP7zB
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 4, 2025
Following the play, NBA legend Reggie Miller, who was doing the broadcast for TNT, had high praise for the defense of the Golden State Warriors star. According to Miller, the 6-foot-6 forward deserves to win the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year award, which would make it his second time winning the honor.
“Give him the trophy already,” Miller said.
Green only had one block after the game, but his defensive leadership helped the squad defeat their foe from the Pacific Division. One of the front-runners to win the prize is the four-time champion. Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs was initially the front-runner for the DPOY award.
However, his recent health condition (deep vein thrombosis) has ruled him out of the season.
The Golden State Warriors star believes this season may be his “last best chance” to win the defensive award
Green has made a career out of being one of the best defenders in the NBA. The Golden State Warriors forward works hard to be the best defender for his team and has been rewarded for it once. This season, he has a chance to win the award a second time.
On Thursday’s episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today,” Green said that he thinks this season is his “last best chance” at being the best defender in the league.
“I spoke about it earlier in the year. I spoke about it last year, about Wemby and Chet. They are. The young guys are great, and what they’re doing is amazing. I do think this is one of the last best chances I have. I think I have put together a good case, and I have six or seven games to continue building that case. Whatever happens, I think I should win it. I wish luck to all the guys in the running because it’s an incredible thing,” the four-time All-Star said.
Draymond Green says this may be his "last best chance" to win another Defensive Player of the Year Award 😮 pic.twitter.com/JR3W5NnHp0
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 3, 2025
Aside from the prestigious defensive award, Green has been selected to the All-Defensive team eight times.
For other sports-related content:
Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
