Draymond Green available to play vs. Pelicans

A day after receiving a clean MRI on his strained left knee, Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green has been medically cleared to play in Friday night's game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Green will likely test out the knee in warmups before deciding whether or not to take the floor.

"If it ain't too bad, I'm going to play," he told reporters after shootaround Friday morning, according to ESPN's Chris Haynes.

Green suffered the injury late in the third quarter of the Warriors' opening-night loss to the Houston Rockets, when he came down awkwardly on a drive.

"I was hoping it wasn't more (severe)," Green said. "I knew when I came down, I didn't feel a pop, but it was hurting really bad. I was actually hoping for a just a bruise, but it wasn't that, so I thank God. ... I was concerned. I honestly thought it was my meniscus."

Instead, it seems likely the reigning Defensive Player of the Year will avoid missing a single game. That's welcome news to both him and the Warriors, who got outscored by 14 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday with Green out of the lineup.