Draymond shoulders blame for poor defensive showing vs. Hawks

Forward Draymond Green accepted responsibility for the Golden State Warriors' poor defense in Saturday's 125-114 road loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Warriors conceded 40 points in the first quarter, and Green acknowledged his part in his team's lack of defensive effort.

"We've got to be better. That starts with me; we were terrible defensively," Green told reporters, according to The Athletic's Anthony Slater.

"We just didn't come out like we were ready to play," Green added. "We got diced up in the first quarter, and from that point on, we were fighting an uphill battle."

Green's comments come after the 13-year NBA veteran claimed he had a "1 million percent" case for winning Defensive Player of the Year following a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this week.

The 35-year-old won the league's top individual prize for defenders in 2017 and is a four-time NBA All-Defensive first-team member.

Green finished Saturday's loss with five points on 2-of-7 shooting paired with six rebounds, six assists, three steals, and a block. Jimmy Butler led the Warriors with 25 points, while Moses Moody chipped in 20.

"Bad loss. It's a terrible loss," Green said. "Eleven games left with everything to play for, you shouldn't have a loss like this."

The Warriors were without Steph Curry against the Hawks after the 11-time All-Star injured his pelvis during Thursday's win over the Toronto Raptors.

Saturday's loss was just Golden State's fourth in its last 20 games since acquiring Butler from the Miami Heat in a blockbuster trade that sent Andrew Wiggins the other way. The Warriors take on the Heat in Miami on Tuesday, marking Butler's first return to face his former team since the trade.

The 41-30 Warriors are a half-game up on the Clippers for the Western Conference's sixth and final automatic playoff berth.