Draymond Green might not have been fully healthy when he shut down Kawhi Leonard in the Golden State Warriors’ play-in win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
ESPN’s Shams Charania said Thursday on NBA Today that Green was seen repeatedly vomiting before the Warriors’ 126-121 win Wednesday night.
“Team sources told me Draymond Green was sick. He was throwing up, puking all over the place in pregame,” Charania said. “Sideline, in the back area by the locker room. And you could tell as the game was starting his energy looked a little low.”
Green ended playing 35 minutes and contributing key defense down the stretch of the Warriors’ comeback win.
Fox Sports 1’s Rachel Nichols had reported before the game that Green had a “hacking cough” while getting ready in the Warriors locker room.
According to The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II, Green had congestion “severe enough to warrant a chest X-ray” that necessitated “a nebulizer to help him breathe.”
Green was still regularly matched up with Leonard, who was limited to just six points with two turnovers on 3-for-7 shooting from the field in the 10 minutes they shared the court.
The Warriors later closed out the comeback thanks to a pair of clutch steals from Green, including one that stripped the ball from Leonard in the final minute of play.
“Draymond, I think, is probably as well-suited to guard Kawhi as any player in the league, because of his strength and his brains and his ability to defend without fouling,” head coach Steve Kerr said after the game.
The Warriors got 35 points from Stephen Curry, who missed most of the final two months of the regular season with a lingering knee injury, in the comeback victory.
Kerr will hope both Curry and Green are close to full strength by Friday night when the team travels to Arizona for another play-in game against the Phoenix Suns.
Whichever team emerges victorious following the 10 p.m. ET tip-off will earn the No. 8 seed and the chance to face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.