On Sunday at Chase Center, the Golden State Warriors had a chance to climb into the top six in the Western Conference and secure a direct ticket to the NBA playoffs. But they ran into a tough challenge from the Los Angeles Clippers, who pulled off a 124–119 overtime win. Draymond Green shared a brutally honest reaction after the game.
“We’ll be fine,” Green began at the postgame press conference, shared by KNBR on X, when asked about the Warriors’ playoff chances now that they’ll have to go through the play-in tournament and miss out on a much-needed week of rest.
“Playoffs, you’re playing on back-to-backs or anything like that, just gotta get there. We’ll be all right,” Draymond added, before pausing and delivering a line that drew laughs from the room: “We’re not senior citizens, we’re high-level basketball players.”
The question was, of course, tied to the age of Golden State’s three veteran stars—Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Green himself—all of whom are over 35. “If we have to play tomorrow, we’ll be OK. You know, we train all year for this,” he said.
Jimmy Butler III #10, Draymond Green #23 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors react in the second half against the Orlando Magic on February 27, 2025.
“No disrespect to the senior citizens, by the way,” the forward quickly clarified. “We love our senior citizens. But we ain’t there yet,” Draymond said, making it clear that the Warriors still believe in their ability to contend this season despite Sunday’s setback. “We’ll be just fine.”
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Draymond Green takes responsibility for loss vs. Clippers
The game between the Warriors and Clippers was thrilling to the end, ultimately decided in overtime thanks to a strong showing from James Harden. But before that, Green had a clear scoring chance that could have changed the outcome.
“I completely smoked a layup,” Draymond admitted during the press conference when asked about the play. The four-time NBA champion didn’t hesitate to take the blame but also pointed out another missed opportunity by a teammate: “And Buddy (Hield) missed a shot… That was the play that was drawn up, we got the look, just missed it.”
What’s next for the Warriors?
Following the loss to the Clippers, the Golden State Warriors will now have no choice but to go through the play-in tournament to clinch one of the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference.
Their path could be short if they beat the Memphis Grizzlies this Tuesday at Chase Center. In that case, they’d face the Houston Rockets in the first round. However, if Steve Kerr’s team stumbles in that must-win game, they’ll get one final shot against the winner of the matchup between the Sacramento Kings and the Dallas Mavericks. In that scenario, the playoff opponent would be a tough one: the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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