Dub Hub: Draymond Green vents on Warriors’ defensive issues, says they’re a ‘very quiet team’

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Tuesday, March 26th.

Warriors News:

Draymond Green after 114-110 loss vs. Timberwolves: “We’re a very quiet team”

Kawakami: The fading Warriors, the signs of futility and maybe one last rally … next season | The Athletic

To be clear, again: I’m not saying Kerr or anybody else on the team is waving off this season. But Kerr is signed for two more lucrative years and has a proven history of playing the long game. And Curry, Draymond, Klay and the rest surely are starting to feel the futility right now. They’ll try to get into the Play-In. But they likely won’t put themselves at major risk of exhaustion and injury to do it.

They will keep fighting. They might even pull off a surprise victory here or there, maybe starting Tuesday in Miami. But the Warriors have told us who they are through 70 games this season, and they’re also starting to tell us that their best shot at changing the story probably won’t come until next season.

Alarming stat showcases Warriors’ inability to keep big leads | NBC Sports Bay Area

In a performance all too familiar to Dub Nation, Golden State started out with a 12-point lead over Minnesota in the first half before falling too far behind over the next two quarters to pull off a comeback.

And while a 12-point lead is easier for teams to overcome in today’s NBA, it’s certainly a sizeable enough advantage for any squad to ultimately walk away with a win. But that hasn’t been the case for the Warriors this season, as they’re tied for the league’s most blown leads of at least 12 points this season.

Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards says they knew exactly what play the Warriors were going to run at the end of the game

Warriors rank last in net free-throw attempts dating back to last season

NBA News:

Sources: NBA eyes Raptors’ Jontay Porter for betting issues | ESPN

At issue are prop bets involving Porter from games on Jan. 26 and March 20, multiple sources told ESPN. An NBA spokesman told ESPN that the league is “looking into it.”

In the game on Jan. 26 against the LA Clippers, there was increased betting interest on the under for Porter props, which for the night were set at around 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. There was also an over/under for Porter’s made 3-pointers, which was 0.5.

That evening, Porter played just four minutes before leaving the game because of what the Raptors said was an aggravation of an eye injury he had suffered four days earlier against the Memphis Grizzlies. Porter did not score against the Clippers but had three rebounds and one assist, and he did not attempt a 3, meaning the under hit on all of the props.

The next day, as part of a daily report to users on betting results, DraftKings Sportsbook stated that the under on Porter’s 3-pointers was the biggest money winner for bettors of any NBA player props from games that evening.

The tests of will that forged Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr: ‘That dude isn’t a normal rookie’ | The Athletic

Jaquez Jr.’s offensive versatility has added a much-needed element to a Miami offense that has been, at times, overly dependent on its star players Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Jaquez Jr.‘s comfort with being a three-level scorer is a rarity for a young player in their first season, especially one taken outside of the lottery. And as the rest of the Heat have discovered, his mentality, developed from a young age, is almost unheard of for a player with so little NBA experience.

“I’ve said it over and over,” Adebayo said. “That dude isn’t a normal rookie.”

Clippers head coach Ty Lue calls his team ’soft’ following Monday’s loss vs. Pacers

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Watch out, here come the Rockets!

The lone good news here is that the Warriors have won both games against Houston, with just one remaining, meaning they’re guaranteed to have the tiebreaker. But if the teams continue on their current trajectories — the Rockets have won 11 of their last 12 games, while the Dubs have lost seven of their last 11 — even that might not matter.

‘We feel like we’re capable of beating anybody’ — Steph Curry still optimistic about the Warriors’ play-in chances

“You’ve got us down the way,” Curry said about the Western Conference standings postgame on Friday after his disappearance in the fourth quarter vs the Timberwolves. “We’re surprised that we’re here, but we still feel like we’re capable of beating anybody.

If the Warriors continue to win and the Rockets and Lakers continue to lose, they will make the play-in at the 9th or 10th seed. If this happens, and the 8th-seed Mavericks lose the last 8 games of the season, somehow, the Warriors would be a lock for the 8th seed. This is far flung, but like Steph said, anything can happen. The NBA has never been more wide-open than it is now, especially in the West.

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