After seemingly an entire season on anticipation, the Warriors and Rockets are finally slated to meet in the Western Conference Finals starting next Monday in Houston.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has been outspoken that his team has been constructed with the sole purpose to bring down Golden State. The formula seemed to work in the regular season, with the Rockets taking two out of the three matchups, including one at Oracle Arena. After one of those victories, Rockets center Clint Capela added fuel to the fire, saying about the Warriors: “We’re better than them.”
After Tuesday’s Game 5 victory over the Pelicans, Draymond was asked if he had anything to say to Capela.
“You’ve got to play the game now,” Green said. “That’s all fine and dandy in January. They got us we got them. You’ve got to go out there and play. We’ll see who’s better.”
Later in the press conference, Green was asked again to share his true feelings about the Rockets, and admit that the Warriors have been waiting for this matchup. In highly entertaining fashion, Green didn’t bite.
“We won two championships in three years. We don’t have to run around talking about how bad we want to play somebody. We want to win another championship and it don’t matter who is in the way of that. If you in the way of that, you happen to be in the way.
“But you know, we’re not about to run around like, ‘Yeah, we going to play them in the Conference Finals.’ For what? Like it don’t matter to us who we play.
“However, we got them, aiight. Now let’s get it. We get to it now. But makes no sense for us to run around: ‘We want them as bad as they want us.” For what? Right?
“That, honestly, don’t make much sense to me. Like we got a goal, and whoever is in the way of that goal, you know, then we got to see you. You’ve got to see us. Aiight now they in the way. Perfect. But we ain’t running around talking about, man, I can’t wait, like we want them bad.
“No, we want a championship bad. Another one. That’s the truth.”