The Golden State Warriors will host the Sacramento Kings on Thursday in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Trailing 2-0 in the series, the Warriors desperately need a win.
But they’re going to have to get that win without Draymond Green.
Green was ejected in the fourth quarter of Game 2 on Monday after receiving a Flagrant 2 for stepping on Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis. On Tuesday, it was announced that Green will be suspended for a game.
“Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended without pay for stepping on the chest of Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. The suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA said in a statement on Tuesday night.
The statement went on.
“Green’s actions were in response to Sabonis grabbing and holding Green’s right ankle after falling to the floor. Green received a Flagrant 2 and was ejected, and Sabonis was assessed a technical foul.”
The most notable “unsportsmanlike act” of Green’s career came in 2016. In Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he swiped at the groin of LeBron James, who had just walked over him. That foul, combined with the others he’d accrued through the postseason, led to a suspension in Game 5, which the Cavaliers won, sparking a comeback in the series after trailing 3-1.
The Warriors have lost the first two games of the series, falling 126-123 in Game 1 on Saturday and 114-106 in Game 2 on Monday.
