After pulling out a Game 1 win over the Timberwolves in Minnesota despite playing most of the game without Stephen Curry, things got off to a much rougher start for the Warriors in Game 2, and they fell behind by 14 points by the end of the first quarter.
Amid the frustration of the poor start, coupled with playing without Curry as he recovers from a hamstring injury, one of the storylines of the rpevious Round 1 series between the Warriors and the Rockets cropped up: Draymond Green, emotional roller-coaster.
This time, it was Green committing an ill-advised technical foul on a play involving Naz Reid of the Timberwolves.
Green had the ball beyond the 3-point line early in the second quarter, with Reid guarding him closely, as the Warriors trailed, 33-17, with 8:46 to go int the half. Reid reached in on Green and was called for a common foul, but Green swung his elbow at Reid's chin and walloped him. After a review, Green was assessed a technical foul.
As Anthony Slater of The Athletic pointed out, that's bad news for Green and the Dubs.
He wrote on Twitter/X: "That'll be Draymond Green's fifth technical foul of the playoffs. Two from a one-game suspension. Probably what the Warriors needed least tonight."
Indeed, Green can be suspended with just two more technical fouls, and he could be ejected from Game 2 if he gets called for another.
Former coach Stan Van Gundy was quick to call him out on the TNT broadcast of the game.
“He has got to get control of his emotions,” Van Gundy said. “I understand the frustration. … They’re going to try tog et Jimmy Butler back in the game to try to get him away from the officials, and pull it together. Very smart move by Steve Kerr right here. They’re down 16 right now, they can not afford another technical on him.”
Still, Green raged at the referees and the crowd as he went to the bench--though the replay clearly showed that the technical foul was warranted.
Van Gundy said the Warriors should, essentially, put Green in a time-out: “I am not sure he should not go to the locker room and calm down a little bit. They need him. He is not only the leader of their defense, he is the hub of their offense, their facilitator.”
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