Not for the first time, Draymond Green has gotten himself into hot water in the playoffs.
Green was ejected from Game 1 of the Warriors-Grizzlies series after dragging Brandon Clarke to the floor by his jersey as Clarke went up to the basket. The ejection appeared to stun the Warriors bench, which assumed Green would get a Flagrant 1.
According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, Stephen Curry told referees: “That’s f——g crazy,” after they ejected Green.
Green’s reaction was to run around the FedEx Forum court, asking fans to bring it on before he went up the tunnel. That was the capper to a first half that went quite poorly for Golden State, with Memphis up six at the break and Curry picking up three fouls in addition to Green’s ejection. The Warriors did rally to win 117-116 thanks to a late Klay Thompson 3-pointer and 31 points from Jordan Poole.
Green is no stranger to controversy, especially in the postseason. Back in 2016, he got himself suspended for a pivotal Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which the Warriors lost at home on their way to blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cavaliers. Earlier in that postseason, Green was controversially not punished in the Western Conference Finals after appearing to kick Steven Adams in the groin area.
This time around, the ejection could cost the Warriors again.
Green had six points and four rebounds with three assists and three steals, playing 17 minutes in the first half, prior to getting tossed. Without him, the Warriors needed Jonathan Kuminga for key minutes in the second half.
Memphis is the higher seed in the series, though it brings less firepower, and taking home-court advantage from the Grizzlies is a good start if the Warriors are to move onto the conference finals for the first time since 2019.