SAN FRANCISCO – The clock might have been stopped with a minute left in the second quarter on Sunday evening, but Draymond Green and visiting Rockets center Alperen Sengun were going at full speed before an inbounds play on the Chase Center floor during Golden State’s 106-96 loss.
Green leaned into Sengun, the Turkish all-star reciprocated by pushing into the Warriors center with his chest, and then Green responded by shooting an elbow into Sengun’s upper body.
After officials told Green to lay off the physicality – and the veteran big vociferously argued – the two went right back to jostling.
“I’m not going to stop because the referee says stop, and give up position,” Green said. “I already give up six inches and 50 pounds.”
Sengun was not going to back down, either.
“I think that was the moment we won the game,” Sengun told media. “I think they were trying to scare us to play softer, but even that, you just play harder after that.”
Green threw another left elbow at Sengun’s neck, a referee handed the Warriors vet his 13th technical foul of the season, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr had zero issue with what happened after the Warriors (46-32) fell to sixth in the Western standings.
“I love Draymond’s fire,” Kerr said. “That’s a reason we have four banners up there, and we wouldn’t have any without Draymond. So I love his fire and he was fighting out there and it just didn’t go our way.”
Green has a long history of physical play and fouls of all kinds.
The future Hall of Famer and current Defensive Player of the Year candidate has accrued 163 technical fouls, 18 flagrants and 20 ejections during his career, as well as two suspensions last season.
Early in the third quarter, Green was called for a flagrant foul when he led with went up for the baseline layup, smacked Sengun with that same left elbow, and sent him crashing to the floor.
“With the flagrant foul, I don’t know what to do,” Green said. “Don’t go up for a layup?”
Jimmy Butler agreed with his teammate’s assessment.
“I saw a good bucket in my eyes. It just sucks to be Draymond sometimes,” Butler said. “Because it’s him, he gets a flagrant or attacked or whatever the case may be. That’s 23 for you.”
Buddy Hield, who scored a team-high 20 for Golden State, saw Green’s actions – which included mocking histrionics after missed Rockets free throws – as a positive.
“Draymond is one of the game’s ultimate, all-time competitors,” Hield said. “He’s going to bring it every night, and that’s his job, to get us going.”
Golden State will try to get going again on Tuesday, when the Warriors play at Phoenix.
Warriors not happy with Steph-related officiating
Draymond Green wasn’t the only Warrior who the team believed got the short end of the stick on Sunday night. Jimmy Butler was incredulous that Curry – who was harassed by Rocket wings like Amen Thompson during a three-point, 1-of-10 shooting night – did not get more fouls called.
“I’m pretty sure it’s been happening for 16 years,” Butler said. “I get to see it and it really angers me that he’s on my team and he gets hacked like that.”
Curry did not criticize the officiating, telling media postgame, “I’ve been around 16 years, you’ve seen it all. I don’t ever expect to get calls, and I don’t ever go in looking for it. I try to play basketball and do every night, and battle through physicality. If I need to say something, I’ll say something.”
Green added, “Referees, you know my view (on that).”
Making sense of Western Standings
With Golden State’s loss, the No. 5 through eight seeds – Los Angeles Clippers, the Warriors, the Timberwolves and Memphis, in that order – are all 46-32.
Because none of those teams are first in their division, the next tiebreaker goes by order of what each team’s cumulative record is against the other three teams according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
In those games, the Clippers are 6-3, Golden State is 6-4, Minnesota is 4-5 and Memphis is 3-6. Golden State plays host to Los Angeles in the season finale on Sunday.
Source: Paradise Post
