The Golden State Warriors face an 0-2 hole in their opening round matchup against the Sacramento Kings, and while the series is moving to the Chase Center for Game 3, Golden State will need to avoid getting pushed to the brink of elimination without Draymond Green. In a bit of news announced on Tuesday night, Green got suspended for Game 3 after an incident in Game 2 in which he stomped on Kings center Domantas Sabonis. Green defended himself after the game by bringing up that Sabonis grabbed his leg.
Unsurprisingly, the Warriors are not happy that they’re going to have to pick up a win while Green watches. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the defending champions are “livid” over Green’s suspension, even if there is nothing they can do about it.
.@wojespn on the Warriors' reaction to Draymond Green's suspension:
"Consider the Warriors, in one word, livid. They certainly didn't agree with the one-game suspension. I think they were surprised at it." pic.twitter.com/0XSP3zOxnC
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 19, 2023
“Consider the Warriors, in one word, livid,” Wojnarowski said. “They certainly didn’t agree with the one-game suspension, I think they were surprised at it. No question about that — they certainly went through this in the Finals with Cleveland, losing Draymond Green for a game in 2016. But they’re gonna have to live with it. There’s really nowhere to go with an appeal in these situations … I think there were a lot of people who believed, perhaps, that the ruling on the court was going to stand, but it took the league a while yesterday to get through all the interviews in this. I know they talked to Sabonis earlier in the day, they talked to the Warriors people later in the day.”
As for why Green got suspended for such an important game despite getting ejected from Game 2, Wojnarowski spoke to Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations. Dumars echoed what the league said in its statement on the matter, saying that multiple factors led to the decision.
“Here’s what it came down to: excessive and over-the-top actions, conduct detrimental and a repeat offender,” Dumars said. “That’s what separates this where you end up with a suspension.”
Game 3 between the Warriors and Kings will tip off at approximately 10 p.m. EST on TNT on Thursday evening.
