"I Don't Give A Damn About The Rockets" - Draymond Green Should Probably Start Caring About The Rockets Seeing As How They Are On The Verge Of Ending His Season

Alex Bierens de Haan. Getty Images.

The Golden State Warriors are starting to play with fire. Hanging on to a Play In (not playoffs) spot by the skin of their teeth, after a 4pt loss to the Wolves last night the Warriors are now just 36-34, 2.5 games back of the Lakers for the 9th seed and are just 4-6 over their last 10 games. Since the All Star break when this team was supposed to "flip a switch", they are just 9-8 with the 15th ranked offense, 12th ranked defense, and 16th ranked net rating. This is with Draymond, Steph & Co all playing. 

As a result of their fairly average play over the last month, it's normal to wonder if the Warriors can do enough over their last 12 games to hang onto that 10th seed. You must also remember that GS does not own their 2024 1st round pick (going to POR as part of the Celts Jrue Holiday trade), so missing the Play In and falling into the Lottery does them no good.  

When asked about this, Draymond Green gave an interesting answer

Well Draymond, I'm here to tell you that you probably should be giving a damn about the Houston Rockets. Maybe even 2 damns. When Draymond and the Warriors woke up this morning, this is what they saw

Knock knock! Outside of the Celts (9 game winning streak), there is not a hotter team in the NBA right now than the Houston Rockets. As you can see, they've won 8 in a row and have won 9 of their last 10. This time of the year, especially for fringe Play In teams is all about beating who is in front of you and stacking wins. Is this a murderer's row of opponents? 

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hell no, but who gives a shit? When you're a young team just trying to get into the dance, it doesn't matter who you are beating as long as you are stacking green Ws. Since Draymond is trying to suggest he doesn't give a shit about the Rockets and isn't paying attention to what they are doing, I'd be happy to tell him

Record: 11-5 (3rd most wins post ASB)

Offense: 115.3 (13th)

Defense: 111.1 (9th)

Net Rating: +4.2 (9th)

They've arguably been a top 10 team in the league since the break, and are coming off a stretch where Jalen Green is playing some of the best basketball of his life

And seeing as how we've seen a similar 2nd half of a season run from an Ime Udoka led team before, my advice would be to take them as seriously as any other team currently in the Play In/Playoff race. 

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The way things are currently trending, Draymond and all the Warriors should be looking in their rearview mirror, because if they don't and they continue to fuck around, it's entirely possible the Warriors lap them and knock them out of the Play In. Given how the Warriors are playing, I would not recommend going the disrespectful route when it comes to Draymond and his approach here. That's only asking for trouble should they not be able to hold onto their 10th seed.

Now, in an effort of fairness, maybe he's suggesting that he's not worried about anyone other than his own team and them finding a way to build better habits and get back to playing a better version of basketball. That's not totally out of the question, but at the same time, you don't have to be an asshole. The Rockets are one of the best stories going on right now at this stage of the season, and they are on your ass. To suggest you are paying them no mind is a blatant lie. If no one in GS is actually talking about or paying attention to what is happening around them in the standings, well then that would be very stupid. Maybe that's why Steve Kerr only played Steph 30 minutes last night in a game they lost by 4? Are they all maybe just unaware of what is happening directly behind them?

If the Rockets do want to pull this off, it's going to require them to finish with a better record. Seeing as how GS is up 2-0 in the H2H season series and these teams play just one more time on 4/4, finishing with the same record won't cut it. The way things are going though, that April game might be what gets it done, with the Rockets only 1.0 back right now. The Rockets also close the season with UTA/POR/LAC, which isn't all that different from the Warriors' close of POR/NO/UTA, so things really may all come down to that final meeting. Do we think Draymond will care about the Rockets then?

I just think that for a team that is currently 3-6 over their last 9 with their only wins being the Spurs, Lakers, and Grizzlies, that perhaps now is the time to be more humble than anything else. Is it so hard to say

"We need to be on top of our game because the Rockets are playing great basketball right now and they are trying to catch us"