Warriors forward/center Draymond Green was ejected less than four minutes into Wednesday’s matchup with the Magic in Orlando after an argument with official Ray Acosta, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
NBC Sports Bay Area has a video of the incident. Green wasn’t even directly involved in the play — he was arguing a foul called on Andrew Wiggins against Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, who converted the and-one layup with 8:24 remaining in the first period.
Several members of the Warriors — including Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and Brandin Podziemski — went over to Green as he continued to complain to Acosta. As Green was heading back to the bench, he had some choice words for the official, and he received his second technical foul, resulting in an automatic ejection.
Green did not look surprised at all at that point, so obviously he knew he had crossed a line.
The ejection comes at a critical time in the season for the Warriors, who hold a one-game lead on the red-hot Rockets for the final spot in the Western Conference’s play-in tournament. Both teams have 11 games remaining on their regular season schedules.
The Warriors were already playing without third-year forward Jonathan Kuminga on Wednesday — the second of a back-to-back — against a Magic team that has gone 18-6 over its past 24 games. According to Slater, head coach Steve Kerr said Kuminga is dealing with knee tendinitis, describing it as a minor issue. Kerr expects Kuminga to be active Friday in Charlotte.
It’s also a noteworthy development because it’s Green’s first ejection since his indefinite suspension back in December for striking Jusuf Nurkic in the face. It wound up being a 12-game ban, and he missed another four while working himself back into shape. He was also suspended five games earlier in the season for putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock.
Green has now received 10 technical fouls in 2023-24, according to Spotrac, with six (including the two Wednesday) coming after his last suspension. He’ll be fined a total of $6K — $3K for each technical.
NBA players receive an automatic one-game suspension when they reach 16 technical fouls, so Green has a little wiggle room below that threshold. Still, the fact that he lost his cool again in a crucial game obviously isn’t ideal for Golden State.
On a more positive note, rookie big man Trayce Jackson-Davis returned from a one-game absence due to knee soreness and immediately went into the starting lineup in the frontcourt alongside Green, notes ESPN’s Kendra Andrews. Klay Thompson also made his second straight start after a big game on Tuesday in Miami.
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