Monday, May 20th, 2019

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Written while listening to Pete Rock's Grown Man Sport

Draymond Green, noted sociopath, is rebranding himself

No one is enjoying Kevin Durant’s elongated absence from the Golden State Warriors more than Draymond Green, the team’s enigmatic sociopath and power forward.He’s used the extra maneuvering space on the court to rebirth his prime and inspire teammates, and he’s used the extra podium time off the court to pitch himself as a family man with a sense of humor. He leads the Warriors in touches over the last three games; he’s almost averaging a triple-double so far in the conference finals; and he’s showing some self-effacing humility.This isn’t a miracle, folks, this is Draymond’s redemption tour: the most successful double-back since Ja Rule’s pre-Fyre Fest moguldom.May 4 -- present -- Oakland, Portland and Houston: After picking up three technical fouls in his first seven postseason games, Draymond hasn’t gotten once since. He’s also managed to avoid kicking any groins.May 10 -- Houston: Draymond helps finish off the Rockets with eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the first Durant-less Warriors game of the postseason.May 14 -- Oakland: Draymond finishes a plus-12 in the Warriors’ Game 1 win over Portland, adding 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.May 16 -- Oakland: Draymond helps Golden State jump out to a 2-0 series lead, flirting with a triple-double again in a 16-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist performance.May 18 -- Portland: Draymond’s masterful 20-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist triple-double gives the Warriors a 3-0 lead, all but clinching a fifth-straight NBA Finals appearance. Plus, he reinserts a dirty contact into his eye in the second quarter, which is neither here nor there.May 18 -- Portland: Draymond picks up Jordan Bell after a mid-game missed dunk and credits a Warriors employee for the inspiration.May 19 -- Portland: Draymond admits his season-long sob fest to the refs was “disgusting” and says he cleaned up his act because his little boy was taking notice. “My son was shooting and flopping. I said you gotta stop watching the NBA,” he told reporters.Meanwhile, Durant’s back to fighting on Instagram again, which is like Jim Lahey in Trailer Park Boys going back to the liquor.

Five things from last night’s game

1. Giannis grabbed 24 rebounds and dished seven assists, but had a playoff-low 12 points, fighting foul trouble all night before picking up his sixth on a questionable charge call in double overtime, which the Bucks eventually lost, 118-12. The likely MVP went 2-of-7 from the foul line, including an airball.

2. George Hill of all people stepped up, leading Milwaukee with 24 points. Otherwise, Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton and Nikola Mirotic went a combined 9-of-43 from the floor. Middleton’s dud was an outlier, but Bledsoe continues to struggle; he’s 9-of-38 in the conference finals so far.

3. Kyle Lowry fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, which opened the door for Fred VanVleet to play big minutes. VanVleet has been perhaps the worst player in these playoffs among those getting actual minutes. In 20 minutes per game over 15 games, he’s averaging four points on 25.6 percent shooting; his PER is 4.2 and his true shooting percentage is 35.1. He finished 1-of-11 last night in 31 minutes.

4. Kawhi Leonard appeared to injure himself in the first quarter after an awkward landing, but played 52 of 58 minutes and scored 36 points, including this breakaway dunk in the second overtime, which looked so painful in real time.  

5. Game 3 probably should have been over in regulation, but the Raptors blew a four-point lead with under a minute left, thanks in part to two missed free throws by Pascal Siakam, who had an otherwise good game, finishing with 25 points.

Magic just can’t help himself

Magic Johnson went on First Take this morning, for some reason, and used his time to hurl a huge middle finger toward Rob Pelinka:

“So people around the Laker office was telling me Rob was saying things -- Rob Pelinka -- and I didn't like those things being said behind my back, that I wasn't in office enough and so on. So I start getting calls from my friends outside of basketball saying those things now were said to them outside of basketball. Now not just in the Laker office anymore, now it's in the media and so on. And people have to remember something, being in this business for over 40 years, I got allies, I got friends everywhere."

He also spoke candidly about his desire to fire Luke Walton:

“I said listen, we gotta get a better coach. I like him, he's great, former Laker, the whole thing. So, the first day, 'Well, let's think about it.' Second day, 'OK, you can fire him.' Then the next day, 'No, we should try to work it out.'”

He also explained why he didn’t tell LeBron he was resigning,

, and

. You know, normal stuff.

[

READ:

Magic Johnson drops a bomb on what could have been a happy Lakers day]

 Giannis with an absurd eurostep and possible travel last night

 Coaching News

• Ryan Saunders is nearing a multi-year agreement to be the Timberwolves head coach. He took over this season after Tom Thibodeau was fired.

• Brooklyn’s assistant general manager Trajan Langdon has been hired to become the new general of the New Orleans Pelicans.

• Mike D’Antoni plans to stick around for at least three more years in Houston, at which point he’ll be 71.

 Quick Hits

• Kawhi on his first-quarter injury: “I’m good.”

• Check out this cool Greek protein milk ad featuring Giannis and his brother Kostas.

• Pacers guard Tyreke Evans was banned from the NBA for two years for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.

• How can you not get pumped up after watching Portland’s hype man/cheerleader leave it all out on the floor?

• Chuck, on Toronto: “It’s like New York, but it’s clean and the people are nicer and there’s an actual basketball team.”

• Damian Lillard suffered a rib injury in Game 2.

• Exactly 25 years ago, Scottie Pippen posterized Patrick Ewing in perhaps the most disrespectful dunk of all-time.

 Concrete Reads 

• This is a more focused and balanced Draymond Green [The Athletic]

• Kanter: 'After I leave the court, the fight begins' [ESPN]

• The Mike Conley trade market [The Ringer]

 Podcast Pick

The Raptors win the most boring double-OT playoff game in recent memory [The Ringer]