https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-jamychal-green-makes-most-rare-game-2-start-shines-vs-lakers

Green makes most of rare start, shines in Game 2 vs. Lakers

14H ago
by Monte Poole

SAN FRANCISCO – JaMychal Green’s first season with the Warriors has not
been the joy ride he anticipated. There have been more days of
reflection than nights of fulfillment.

Until Thursday night, when Green was summoned from the dusty end of the
bench to make his second start of the season in Game 2 of the Western
Conference Finals.

It was a promotion earned the hard way, and he responded splendidly,
aiding the Warriors in a 127-100 rout of the Lakers before a sellout
crowd (18,064) at Chase Center.

“It feels good to be able to do this after the year I had,” Green said
after scoring 15 points in 13 minutes. “It's been a rough one.

“You know, haven't been through nothing like this before. I feel like
this is a year of growth for me. I feel like if I can get through this,
I can get through anything. I want to thank God for keeping me with it
and just staying ready.”

Green, 32, signed a one-year contract as a free agent anticipating being
a key member of Golden State’s rotation. He would be a power forward
coming off the bench, stretching the floor on offense while providing a
physical presence with rebounding and defense. The vision was that he’d
fill the void created by the departure of Otto Porter Jr.

Instead, J-Mike made one start in 57 games during the regular season,
piling up 11 DNP-CDs and four more during the seven-game first-round
playoff series against the Sacramento Kings.

On the day the Warriors boarded buses to Sacramento for Game 7, Green
was reengaged and reenergized by the words of Stephen Curry.

“They always tell me to stay ready,” Green recalled. “They said this
before, that my time will come. The first series, even though I was kind
of struggling a little. But we had a team meeting and Steph. He said
some powerful words and it kind of got me locked in and I let go of
everything and just all about the team.”

Curry’s message – essentially engage fully or stay home – resonated with
many of his teammates, but Green needed to hear it. It reminded him that
he is a valued member of a team. That was enough to lighten his spirit.

“You get thrust into a situation that you've never been in your life and
your career where you're not playing much,” said Draymond Green, who has
known J-Mike since they were teenagers. “You may play a couple games and
then not play a few games, and that takes some adjusting. Throughout the
course of this year, he's been adjusting to that. And it's coming
together at the right time.”

J-Mike played eight minutes in Game 1 on Tuesday and likely would have
gotten a bump in minutes for Game 2. When Kevon Looney felt a mild
illness that would restrict his minutes, coach Steve Kerr turned to Green.

“The Lakers are huge,” Kerr said. “They are a massive team. We felt like
going into the game, we had to bring some size and physicality. When we
heard about Loon, we thought about different options, starting smaller,
but we decided on J-Mike because we could still get the spacing with his
three-point shooting ability, but we get a little more size and
athleticism and some toughness.

“We wanted to be more physical tonight, and he definitely brought that.”

Green’s 15 points came on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond
the arc. Ten of the points came in seven third-quarter minutes on 4-of-5
shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep.

Green added two assists and one rebound while taking turns defending
LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

“Glad I played well,” Green said. “Been waiting on this moment. Just
want to show that I could help. I'm here to help the team, and so it was
just me staying ready.”