California Notes: Green, Wiggins, Kings, Howard

Warriors energy ahead Draymond Inexperienced is satisfied that he has reached a brand new stage in these playoffs, contends Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Youngmisuk notes that, as the primary defender on a Mavericks shooter in Recreation 2, he restricted Dallas gamers to 4-of-15 capturing from the ground. That stat additionally contains these Mavericks gamers going 0-of-9 from lengthy vary in opposition to Inexperienced. The Warriors at the moment lead the Mavericks 2-0 of their Western Convention Finals sequence.

“[Opposing players] had a tough time coping with me earlier than,” Inexperienced stated of his efficiency in prior playoff runs, which embody three titles. “[But] I’m in an area now that’s a completely completely different, higher house. Not even shut. A lot, a lot better than I used to be in earlier than.”

There’s extra out of California:

• Warriors ahead Andrew Wiggins, coping with a sore left ankle, is ready to go well with up for this night’s Recreation 3 contest in opposition to the Mavericks regardless of the harm, per Marc Stein (via Twitter). “It was just a bit tweak, I simply got here down on it fallacious,” Wiggins informed reporters in remarks this morning, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter video link).
• The Kings noticed a number of high draft prospects throughout some current company professional day exercises, per Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 (KTXL) (Twitter link). Cunningham experiences that LSU ahead Tari Eason, Mega Soccerbet ahead Nikola Jovic, Duke heart Mark Williams, Milwaukee guard Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Iowa ahead Keegan Murray all participated.
• Michigan head coach and former All-Star large man Juwan Howard turned down current curiosity from the Lakers to interview for the crew’s vacant head teaching place, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Howard intends to stay in Ann Arbor to teach his two sons subsequent yr. Howard final interviewed for the gig in 2019, earlier than the Lakers finally employed Frank Vogel.