Forward Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was shown the door during Tuesday night’s 119-116 defeat to the Phoenix Suns, when he was called for a flagrant foul number 2 for hitting the skull of Jusuf Nurkic.
His third expulsion of the year, he will now have to wait for a league review to see if he will get another punishment.
With 8:23 remaining in the third quarter, Green struck Nurkic in the head with a swing while defending him, earning him an ejection. Initially, Green kept Nurkic off him many times with his back to him. After a while, Green turned and gave Nurkic a hand to the head. A video review led officials to determine that the infraction was a flagrant 2.
“I am not one who apologizes for things I mean to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf for having didn’t intend to hit him,” Green stated following the match. “I sell calls with my arms … so I was presenting the call … and I swung and unintentionally I hit him.”
With three ejections, Green has equaled the record for most in a season. His first came on November 11 when the Cleveland Cavaliers gave him 2 scientific fouls. His second occurred on Nov. 14 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when he locked heads with Rudy Gobert. Following the latter incident, the NBA punished Green for five games, citing his reputation as a repeat offender as justification for the suspension period.
“He is necessary. Draymond is essential to us. He and I have spoken,” head coach Steve Kerr has stated. “He is aware of that.” He must learn to be calm and supportive of his colleagues at the same time.”
Green took note of Kerr’s communication.
“Exactly like I said, if I determined to do that, and then I might experience guilty over not getting there,” Green added. However, I just intended to sell the foul.
“I am not going to apologize if I did anything that I intended to do since you folks were aware of me for a considerable amount of time. But I apologize; I did get in touch with him. It is a powerful blow.”
Green’s behavior “had nothing to do with basketball,” according to Nurkic, while Suns coach Frank Vogel described it as “a reckless, dangerous play.”
It wasn’t to my liking. The officials took the necessary action. The league will take necessary action.”
In addition to losing Green to the expulsion, Stephen Curry was left to try to win the game with the team’s younger players when Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins were benched.
The group hasn’t gelled as a starting unit. We find ourselves in water as a result.”
With their core group of players continuing to struggle, the Golden Warriors have fallen behind 10–13 points a quarter of their way into the season.
Everyone needs to be performing to the level that we require. We lose if that doesn’t occur, Curry stated. “It’s rather easy. That is our current situation. We must all do better both individually and collectively. Prepare yourself to adapt to any duty assigned to you, regardless of the minutes or rotations you are in.”
Thompson ended with seven points on two of ten attempts, included one of eight from three, while Wiggins only managed a triple on one of seven in 17 minutes, in 27 minutes. With just over six minutes left in the game, Thompson ran out of bounds on the sideline, which led to yet another Warriors turnover.
After being substituted out of the game, Thompson was pacing, screaming, and hurling towels on the floor as he made his way across the bench during the next timeout. Curry had to calm him down.
Following the game, Thompson said he should have been dismissed but found it “strange” that the match wasn’t closer.
“I performed poorly,” he said. “You already know you have potential since you have ever played basketball. It is your goal to compete everywhere you go. Although I should be grateful for being benched, it is the reality. I have not been playing well. I still haven’t established a rhythm after twenty games.”
Kerr chose to conclude with Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Chris Paul, Dario Saric, and Curry instead. Kerr started Kuminga and Podziemski over Wiggins and Kevon Looney at the beginning of the second half. These were Kerr’s first significant moves since he hinted about potential alterations last week.
Every player on the Warriors’ bench who did not end with a negative net efficiency rating scored in double figures. Only Thompson had a positive net rating (plus-4) among the starters, while Curry was the only one to score more than seven points.
The next day did not feel like a night when I was able to divide everyone into groups, offer guys mobility and space, and I was incredibly patient in sampling to do all of that to have a lot of patience,” Kerr stated. “We required some urgency.”
