Given their draining trip on their road toward the title last year, Draymond Green got a logical reason why he prefers the Golden State Warriors to face the Sacramento Kings in the playoffs.
For Green, a first-round faceoff with the Kings will assure the Dubs a limited travel – a great way to conserve their energy.
“I’m not upset if the standings shook out how they did today and we met Sacramento in the first round,” Green said, via Fadeaway World, on the latest release of “The Draymond Green Show.”
“Not because I think Sacramento is a weak team, because the travel is so much easier … The only place we can fly and get to in 45 minutes in the Western Conference is Sacramento.”
San Francisco, the site of the remaining champs, requires 86 miles of air travel to reach Sacramento. Both cities are nestled in the heart of California.
The Kings, current owners of the West’s third seed, are on a mission to end their 16-year playoff drought. Led by former Warriors assistant Mike Brown, the club boasts a talented and high-scoring lineup, albeit generally inexperienced for a grinding playoff atmosphere given their recent history.
The Dubs sit in seventh place in the West, though the sixth-ranked Minnesota Timberwolves hold the tiebreaker (39-37). Despite this, a duel with the Kings in a seven-game series remains highly likely.
“I said all that to say the reason why I said Sac is simply just because of the travel,” Green added. “That’s a lot on your body. If we could bus ride an hour and ten minutes up the way like, I just think that’s much better for us.
“Now, Sac is playing well and very good team, but just from the travel, at the end of the day, I don’t really care who we play in the playoffs. I think we can win.”
