OAKLAND, Calif. — Not that he’s needed it much, but Long Island’s Danny Green got a pep talk from Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal before his sizzling 18-point night that helped the Raptors slay the depleted Warriors, 123-109, in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Time and again, Shaq has counseled the “3-and-D’’ prototype who has a ring from San Antonio, where O’Neal spent part of his childhood.
“He’s a pure shooter,’’ Green said jokingly. “I don’t know if you guys knew that.’’
It was tough to tell if Green was serious, but he sure sounded like he’s heeded Shaq’s shooting advice across the years.
“I spoke to him before the game briefly,’’ Green said. “And every time I see him he’s giving me his pure shooting advice. Just the fundamentals, the small things, telling me to be confident and just hold the follow-through. After a good shooting night, it’s easy to see that his advice has worked. But he always just yells to me, ‘Leave it!’ And that’s his way of saying leave your hand up there.He’s always been that guy to me every year that we get in the playoffs on this stage and tells me to be confident.”
It was only appropriate Green and Kawhi Leonard were on the podium together late Wednesday night, former Spurs who made two straight Finals together and came over in the big summer trade that has Toronto two wins from a title.
The planet’s best shooter, Stephen Curry, kept the Warriors within striking distance, but Golden State could never sustain a massive run. Green would not let them back in.
Late in the third, the 3-point shooting specialist all but buried the Warriors for good. He nailed back-to-back 3s 22 seconds apart to put Toronto up 89-75 with 1:50 left in the quarter. Then Green fired in another in the final minute of the period after getting a loose ball and chucking it up before the shot clock expired.
His 18 points came on 6-of-10 shooting — all 3-pointers — and he added a big chase-down block in the fourth quarter on Quinn Cook. In Game 1, the Babylon product’s efficient 11-point night was a factor in the Raptors’ victory.
After a stout regular season (45.5 percent shooting from 3-point range), Green had been in a shooting slump — for him — in the playoffs before the Finals. He entered the series hitting 31 percent of his 3-pointers.
“I wouldn’t say hot, but I was comfortable,’’ Green said of his Game 3 outburst. “We had a good flow and where we can run and get our transition game going. We had a few good looks and they fell for me.’’