Anybody who's seen "White Men Can't Jump" knows that trash talk can be a powerful tool when it comes to getting into your opponent's head. Apparently it's a tool that the Warriors and Trail Blazers weren't afraid to use during Sunday's playoff series opener.
It's not much of a surprise that Draymond Green -- whose mouth pretty much never stops moving during any game -- was heavily involved. You might be surprised, however, to hear that soft-spoken Blazers guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum were giving Green all he could handle.
"I think having a guy like that on the floor, I think it raises the level of the game, because I don't even talk trash, and he was saying so much out there that I had a whole lot to say tonight," Lillard said of Green.
Despite losing 121-109, McCollum may have won the trash talking. Green had an incredible sequence in the fourth quarter where he stole the ball and dribbled the length of the court before taking off for a dunk from nearly outside the key.
Green missed the dunk, which would have blown the roof off of Oracle Arena, and McCollum hit him with a quick burn after the play.
"Yeah, he told me I need to do more calf raises," Green said. "No, we were talking back and forth the entire game, but that's just a part of the game. It's mutual respect both ways."
Green clearly didn't take it too personally, and it probably helped that he had one of the best playoff games of his career.
McCollum and Lillard said they like Green's constant banter, and that trash talk is part of the game.
"It's nothing disrespectful, I'm not talking about nobody's mamas or anything like that," McCollum said.
Lillard thinks the Warriors rely on Green to bring that kind of fire.
"I think the league has softened up a lot, and it's not like that, so you've got to have a rough guy like him out there," Lillard said. "I think it's necessary. I think their team depends on him to be that dog out there and to be that person."
Whatever the reason for all the jabs, it clearly worked for all three players. Green put up 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, five blocks and three steals while Lillard and McCollum combined for 75 points.
If that's what happens when they talk trash, let's hope for plenty more in Game 2 on Wednesday night.