Forward Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was shown the door during Tuesday night’s 119-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns, as he was called for a flagrant foul number two for striking Jusuf Nurkic in the head.
His third ejection of the year, he will now have to wait for a league review to see if he will get another suspension.
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 held Nurkic off him several 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 foul was a flagrant 2.
“I do not apologize for things I intended to do, but I apologize to Jusuf since I didn’t mean to hit him,” Green said following the match. “I sell calls using my arms … so I was promoting the call … and I swung & unfortunately I hit him.”
Green shares the season high with three ejections. On November 11 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was given two technical fouls. This was his first. On November 14, he locked Rudy Gobert in a headlock during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Following that second incident, the NBA suspended Green for five games, citing his history as a repeat offender as justification for the suspension period.
“He is necessary. Draymond is essential to us. Coach Steve Kerr stated, “He is aware of that.” We’ve spoken with him. He needs to figure out how to support his teammates while maintaining his composure.”
Green took note of Kerr’s communication.
“Like I said, if I meant to do that, then I would certainly feel awful about not being there,” Green stated. However, I only intended to sell the foul.
“You guys have known me for a long enough time; I won’t apologize if I did something that I meant to do. But I apologize; I did get in touch with him. It is a powerful blow.”
Frank Vogel, the coach of the Suns, described Green’s play as “a reckless, dangerous play,” while Nurkic stated that it “had nothing to do with basketball.”
“I’m concerned about our guys getting hit on plays like that,” Vogel claimed. It wasn’t to my taste. The referees carried out their necessary duties. The league will take the necessary action.”
Along with losing Green to the ejection, Stephen Curry was left to try to win the game with the team’s younger players after Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins were benched.
“It seems like each time our bench has had to step in and rescue the game,” Kerr explained. “We haven’t been able to assemble our starting group. We are treading water as a result.
A quarter of the way into the season, the Warriors have buried themselves in a 10–13 hole as the core group of players they rely on keeps struggling.
Everyone must perform to the standard that we demand. We lose if that doesn’t occur, Curry stated. “It’s quite easy. That is our current situation. Each of us needs to perform better on our own and as a team. Be ready to adjust to whatever task you are given, whatever the minutes or rotation you are in.”
In 17 minutes, Wiggins managed just three points on one of seven shots, while Thompson finished with seven points on two of ten shots, including one of eight from three, in 27 minutes. Thompson went out of bounds on the sideline with just over six minutes remaining in the game, resulting in 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 around the bench during the next timeout. Curry had to calm him down.
After the game, Thompson said he thought it was “strange” that the game wasn’t closer but that he should have been benched.
“I performed poorly,” he admitted. “You already know your potential if you’ve ever played basketball. You want to be competing everywhere you go. That’s the truth, but I should have been benched. I have not been playing well. I still haven’t established a rhythm after twenty games.”
Kerr chose to close with Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Chris Paul, Dario Saric, and Curry instead. Kerr started Kuminga as well as Podziemski over Wiggins and Kevon Looney at the beginning of the second half. These were Kerr’s first significant changes since he hinted at potential changes last week.
Every player on the Warriors’ bench who did not finish with a negative net efficiency rating scored in double figures. Only Thompson had a positive net rating (plus-4) among the starters, and Curry was the only one to score more than seven points.
“I’ve been very patient in trying to make everybody organized, in groups and to provide guys freedom and space, yet tonight wasn’t feeling like the night that required a lot of patience,” Kerr stated. “We needed more urgency.”