Kerr: Draymond is the best defender in the NBA

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is tired of seeing Draymond Green consistently finish second to Kawhi Leonard for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Kerr sung Green's praises after the Warriors captured their 10th straight win on Friday, relying upon their defense to capture a 107-98 victory over the Houston Rockets.

"I think he's the best defensive player in the league and I thought he showed that tonight." Kerr said of Green, according to ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss. "You've got to mention Andre (Iguodala) as well in that same breath. His defense tonight and everything he did was fantastic. He just continues his great play."

For the second time this week, Green kept a tight lid on the explosive Rockets offense by limiting the effectiveness of James Harden. The Rockets mostly generate their half-court offense through Harden in the pick-and-roll, but the MVP favorite couldn't slither into the lane for his patented left-handed drives off the high screen as Green would consistently switch onto him.

A one-on-one battle with Harden is a mismatch for most bigs, but defensive interchangeability is Green's specialty.

"Some guys might think they have a mismatch or anything like that, but I kind of take it personal," Green said. "So when I'm one-on-one with a guy, I kind of think it's a battle at that point, and it's personal to me."

Harden followed up his 5-of-20 shooting performance on Tuesday with a 4-of-18 outing against the Warriors on Friday. Some of that, however, could be attributed to his injured wrist, which Green swiped at in their most recent game.

The Warriors are mere fractions behind the San Antonio Spurs for the league's best defensive efficiency mark. On the whole, Green has captained a top-five defense in each of his last three seasons.