The Golden State Warriors might play the season without its power forward player, Draymond Green. On Tuesday, the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green, suffered “knee strain” during the game against the Houston Rockets for the NBA season opener game. He was injured late in the third quarter while driving to the basket when his leg appeared to buckle as he pulled up for a shot against the Rockets forward Trevor Ariza.
Draymond Green is probably not the best player of the Golden State Warriors but without him, the Warriors are not the same.
He is part of the most important players in the Warriors when it comes to defensive play. He showed his best in the game against the Rockets but after he left the game in the third quarter due to a knee strain and did not play in the fourth quarter, the Rockets outscored the Warriors with the final score of 122-121.
The Warriors announced Green’s injury as a strained left knee. Cris Haynes from ESPN.com said that Green is scheduled to have an MRI on Wednesday to determine the severity of his injury. Draymond Green told David Aldridge of TNT that he will “be fine.” Also, Anthony Slater of The Athletic noted that he receives treatment on his leg after the game but was "not limping bad and doesn't have any type of brace on it."
Houston Rockets outscored the Warriors
After Draymond Green left the game during the third quarter, the Rockets quickly outscored the Warriors beating them with a final score of 122-121.
James Harden led the Rockets finishing the game with 27 points, six rebounds, and 10 assists while Eric Gordon scored 24 points with only one rebound and one assist. The Rockets averaged 49.5 percent shooting from the field, 36.6 percent from three-point shooting with 13 turnovers and 53 rebounds.
Chris Paul got off to a bad start as he only scored four points during the game but with eight rebounds and 11 assists.
PJ Tucker added 20 points for the Rockets with six rebounds during the game. The good game of the Rockets led them to win their first game of the NBA regular season.
The Warriors game recap
Kevin Durant almost saved the Warriors during the game against the Houston Rockets as he pulled off a jumper shot to give the Warriors a one-point lead.
However, upon review, it was seen that the ball was still on Durant’s fingertips as time expired. The score was then erased from the Warriors and gave the Rockets a deserved win.
Although the Golden State Warriors had a great game with the team averaging 53.8 percent shooting from the field, 53.3 percent from three-point shooting, with 17 turnovers and 42 rebounds, the Warriors felt the loss of Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. Anthony Slater of The Atlantic reported that Iguodala suffered a back injury while lifting weights over the weekend. Coach Steve Kerr said that Iguodala is open to play on Friday but he won’t let him play if he’s not yet fully recovered.
Nick Young led the Warriors with 23 points, Stephen Curry with 22 points and Kevin Durant with 20 points.
