Danny Green plans to keep shooting.
The 31-year-old wing is in the middle of a slump as he has missed nine straight 3-point attempts over his last three games. Green, however, said he isn’t going to change his approach when Toronto faces the Warriors in the NBA Finals.
“It’s hard not to think about it, because everybody in the world is telling you, ‘Don’t think about it,'” Green told reporters Monday, via The Globe and Mail. “Trust me, I’m going to keep shooting. ‘Don’t think about it.’ I’m trying not to.”
Green has connected on just 31.4% of his attempts from distance during the playoffs, including a 4-for-23 performance against the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals, a series the Raptors won in six games.
“I’m not second guessing myself,” Green said. “Whenever I get a look, more so than anything I try to let my defense fuel that side of the floor for me. Be active, try to get in passing lanes, get some rebounds, box out, get into guys and then offensively just run, and hopefully build my rhythm back that way.”
Green averaged 10.3 points during the regular season and knocked down a career-best 45.5% of his shots from 3-point range on 5.4 attempts per game.
“We have new life now, we survived that series (against the Bucks),” Green said. “I thank my teammates for helping me survive that series, because if we didn’t I would be getting a lot of criticism, not just from myself. I want to make shots. Trust me, I’m trying. But at the same time, you’ve got to be positive, stick with what you know and be confident in yourself. Confidence goes a long way in this league.”
Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said the team still has faith in Green.
“I don’t think anything that happened the last series matters, besides us finding ways to win games,” Lowry said. “That’s what we take from that series. Danny will be fine. Game 1, he’ll be ready to go.”
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Raptors and Warriors will tipoff Thursday at 9 p.m. in Toronto.