We are two games into the second round and Draymond Green is already playing with fire. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
(David Berding via Getty Images)
Two days after losing Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors are nearing the point where they could be without Draymond Green as well.
The veteran big man picked up his fifth technical foul in nine playoff games this postseason on Thursday, leaving him two techs from an automatic one-game suspension. Green received a one-game suspension in the 2016 NBA Finals — which Golden State lost after blowing a 3-1 lead to LeBron James’ Cavaliers — after accumulating four flagrant points during that season’s playoffs.
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The foul occurred in Game 2 of the West semis against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when T-Wolves big man Naz Reid fouled him in the second quarter. Green responded to the contact from Reid by jumping and flailing his arms out, catching his opponent in the back of the head and sending him to the floor.
The officials reviewed the play and deemed it a common foul on Reid and a technical foul on Green.
Green was heated after the decision was announced, to the point that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to take him out of the game lest he continue to berate the officials and pick up another tech, which would have ejected him from the game.
Not only is Green two technical fouls from a suspension, he’s also two flagrant fouls from having to miss a game.
All in all, not what the Warriors need as they try to survive a series without their superstar against a Minnesota team that just knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers. But that’s never really stopped Green before.
