Fez and Dray: Ezeli has backing of Warriors’ most vocal star

2:38 PM ET

During the news conference conducted in the aftermath of the Golden State Warriors’ Game 2 comeback win over the Portland Trail Blazers, you could be forgiven for wondering if Draymond Green ever stopped throwing Festus Ezeli lobs. Green was effusive in his praise of his teammate, breaking down his contributions on a granular level.

“Changed the entire game for us,” Green said of Ezeli. “Some people are going to look and say, ‘Oh, he had a couple lobs and had a putback.’ No, it’s not that. “Did you see him on the ball screen with Damian Lillard when [Lillard had been taking over]? Did you see him on the ball screen with C.J. McCollum? Did you see him stop the ball screen when C.J. McCollum got back and blocked Mason Plumlee’s shot?”

The play, with 4:13 remaining, was a proper one to highlight (Ezeli also had a similar version at the 8:05 mark where Plumlee was forced into a miss). It’s a distillation of how and why a guy who was DNP’d on Sunday proved to be a crucial player on Tuesday. Portland’s guards can shoot 3-pointers off the dribble, which means your big man better be able to help and to contest shots far from the rim. Ezeli, with his galvanized athleticism, did just that.

Or, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr put it earlier, “He changed the whole game with his pick-and-roll defense and his presence around the rim. The energy he gave us. He played 13 straight minutes. This is a guy who has been out most of the last part of the season and didn’t play much in the Houston series. So phenomenal effort from Fez to really change the game.”

Festus Ezeli, nicknamed, “Fez,” or “Fezzy,” and additionally nicknamed “Swagzeli,” did start …

continue reading in source espn.go.com