The Golden State Warriors can put their Game 3 home defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves on a variety of different factors, but one is perhaps most pertinent of all.

Jimmy Butler and Steve Kerr entered the contest at Chase Center on Saturday night, May 10, fully aware that they wouldn’t have Stephen Curry and his defense-bending skill set at their disposal. They could, however, harbor a reasonable expectation that Draymond Green — who is close to Curry’s equivalent on the defensive side of the floor — would be available all game.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, however, that didn’t prove the case.

Green fouled out with a little more than four and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after challenging Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels at the rim. Golden State was down two points, 84-82, at the time. The Warriors ended up losing the remainder of the game by three total points, falling 102-97 and dropping into a 2-1 deficit in the series.

Butler spoke during his postgame interview about what it meant to Golden State to lose Green at such a critical juncture in the contest.

“He’s one of the top defenders in the world, for sure the best defender on this squad,” Butler said, per 95.7 The Game. “When he’s out, it’s just different. You don’t got nobody back there that’s quarterbacking the way he does it. That can switch everything.”

Kerr also spoke about two of Green’s final three fouls during his postgame press conference.

“We felt pretty strongly [about that] block,” Kerr said of Green’s fourth foul, which the Warriors challenged but couldn’t get overturned. “It looked like [Julius] Randle went through his chest. We didn’t get the call. That’s part of the game.”

Kerr also talked about the sixth foul on Green that knocked him out of the contest.

“The sixth [foul] is tough,” Kerr continued. “That didn’t feel great looking at the replay, but it is what it is.”

Golden State will host Minnesota for Game 4 on Monday in San Francisco, in what is essentially a must-win for the Warriors if they hope to stay alive long enough to get Curry back in the lineup.