SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green considered it obvious why the Boston Celtics would advance to face the Warriors in the NBA Finals.
Call it: the Boston ‘D’ Party.
The Celtics showcased the NBA’s top-ranked defense Sunday to finish off the Miami Heat, 100-96, in the Eastern Conference Finals. Next up is Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Warriors on Thursday night at Chase Center.
“I didn’t really predict that,” Green said Tuesday. “I just know a little about basketball. If you know a little about basketball and you saw the two teams, I just thought Boston was the better team.”
Green shared that thought on national television immediately after the Warriors clinched the Western Conference championship last Thursday. The Heat reportedly took umbrage with Green’s prediction, and they parlayed whatever motivation they got into a Game 6 win to extend their series to Sunday’s Game 7.
“It wasn’t a prediction or a slight at anybody,” Green added. “I just thought they were the better team, and clearly I wasn’t far off.”
The Celtics’ “absolutely incredible” defense was a driving factor in Green’s fortune-telling. Boston won its four games by limiting the Heat to 102, 88, 80 and 96 points.
That defensive dominance showed up in the Celtics’ only trip to Chase Center this regular season, when they prevailed 110-88 on March 16.
“That game was a really good indicator for how good Boston is defensively,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “… We felt it that night. They were really good at that end. That tape is helpful for us to prepare for them now.”
The Celtics boast the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Smart — the first guard to win that honor since Gary Payton in 1996.
Green won that honor five years ago, and he said he has a lot of respect for Smart.
“To see him coming into his own, to see him looking like the Marcus Smart that came out of Oklahoma State (in 2014) with so much promise, and to see him playing at that level, it’s been fun to watch,” Green said.
Green dubbed Smart as “a real anchor” to a Celtics defense that also comes strong with Robert Williams and Al Horford.
From his own defensive perspective, Green praised the Celtics’ offensive combo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, adding that Tatum is “one of them guys” who always gives a team a chance at winning.
Said Green: “You couple that with all the pieces around him, the defense around him, they have veteran leadership, and you look and say, ‘Wow, they actually have what it takes.’ “
Smart made the All-NBA Defense first team. Williams made the second team, as did Green, who took that accolade as a slight. The way Green sees it, playing only 46 games should not be held against him in first-team voting, not if his play in those 46 games merited second-team votes.
Green made the All-Defensive first team in 2015, ’16, ’17 and ’21; second team in 2018, ’19 and ’22.
By the way, Green went on the defensive Tuesday afternoon on Twitter against former teammate Kevin Durant, who disputed Green’s contention on his podcast that Steph Curry got double-teamed more than Durant in their title-contending days. Durant called it “100 percent false,” and Green tweeted back that: “You have to learn to listen to full takes and not snippets before you get baited into tweeting Champ.”
He said his defensive prowess is “night and day” compared to that initial NBA Finals’ run in 2015.
“I’m at the top of my powers on the defensive end,” Green said. “I feel I can see everything coming.”
Well, he did see the Celtics coming out of the East.
