Durant's Game 4 brilliance was sparked by 4 a.m. text from Green

Draymond Green had trouble sleeping Friday after the Golden State Warriors suffered a 119-100 Game 3 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference semifinals.

Green stayed up watching film and was so upset that he sent teammate Kevin Durant a "long-ass text message" after the reigning Finals MVP submitted a below-average performance that saw him finish minus-24 in 35 minutes despite scoring 22 points.

"I just challenged him (Durant) to be who he is. I had to tell him," Green said, according to ESPN's Chris Haynes. "I didn't see him attacking or being aggressive enough on both ends of the floor like we need him to be. You know, I don't hold back. When I see something's wrong, I have to voice my opinion. There were no hard feelings. We're just trying to win a ballgame."

Durant woke up a few hours later and replied, "I got you."

The four-time scoring champ then delivered on his concise promise, notching a game-high 38 points on Sunday along with nine rebounds and five assists. He was also a plus-23 as the defending champions started their "Death Lineup" and left the Big Easy with an easy 118-92 victory, and a 3-1 series lead.

Durant appreciated Green's encouraging message, which reminded him to be himself and to take over the game.

"In short, (Green) said don't worry about s--- else but playing with force and being aggressive," Durant told ESPN after Sunday's performance. "And I tried to do that as much as possible today. I wasn't aggressive in Game 3 and I knew that. It's good to know that teammates got your back. It was good to hear that from him."

Durant is averaging a team-high 28.4 points plus 8.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in the playoffs for the Warriors, who are now one win away from sending the Pelicans packing and advancing to the conference finals.