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The Golden State Warriors escaped Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals with a 117-116 road win over the Memphis Grizzlies, but they had to overcome a little controversy to do it.
With just over a minute left in the second quarter, Draymond Green went up to contest a Brandon Clarke shot attempt at the rim. Green wound up, hit Clarke in the face and then grabbed a handful of jersey as both headed toward the floor.
After a lengthy review, but before the decision was announced to the crowd and broadcast, Green galloped off the floor and down the tunnel toward his team’s locker room.
He was given a flagrant-2 foul (which necessitates an ejection), and the implications were potentially massive.
Golden State was down six at the half, but Green was a plus-two and was on borderline triple-double watch, with six points, four boards, three assists and three steals.
Without Green’s ability to defend both the paint and the perimeter, Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. had 19 points and five threes in the second half alone. Green may not have spent the entire two quarters on JJJ, but he certainly would’ve been an option to slow him down.
His playmaking on the other end was missed too. Green finished with a 118.9 offensive rating (meaning the Warriors scored that many points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor), a mark that comfortably cleared Klay Thompson’s 109.1 and Stephen Curry’s 107.3.
His impact on Game 1 was a microcosm of what it’s been throughout his career. Golden State’s point differential has been better with Green on the floor in eight of the last nine seasons. And the intensity (which borders on reckless abandon) with which he plays has generally been there too.
In 2016, Green infamously lost his cool when LeBron James stepped over him in Game 4 of the Finals. Green took a swipe and was given a flagrant foul two days later after review from the league office. The flagrant eclipsed the threshold necessary to earn a suspension.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, of course, went on to win the Game 5 that Green missed and erase a 3-1 deficit on the way to winning the Finals.
“The one thing, when I look back on it, that bothers me is I would’ve been the Finals MVP,” Green told J.J. Redick of the incident on The Old Man and the Three. “And that totally changes the narrative.”
Well, after Game 1 of this series. The narrative may be back. And it’ll get louder if Draymond collects a couple more flagrant points and gets suspended at exactly the wrong time again.
Golden State is just six games into this playoff run, and this isn’t his first flirtation with ref-levied discipline.
In the first round against the Denver Nuggets, he landed a shot to Nikola Jokic’s eye that would’ve made Ric Flair proud.
He also attempted to hit Aaron Gordon with a double-leg takedown after taking offense to a dunk after the whistle.
Green avoided flagrant points on those two plays, but Sunday showed that the tally can be prone to the “you win some, you lose some” philosophy. He may have gotten away with some stuff against Denver, but Sunday’s penalty felt overly harsh. To say the audience generally disagreed with the penalty would be an understatement.
Trae Young, Damian Lillard and more took to Twitter to rip the decision.
But unless a tweetstorm convinces the league to downgrade the flagrant, Green is now halfway to that suspension. He has two “flagrant points.” Two more (which could come in the form of two flagrant-1s or one flagrant-2) and he’ll have to sit a game.
Missing Sunday’s second half didn’t lead to a loss. As Steve Kerr explained after the game, the steadiness of Kevon Looney and the increased space that came with Curry and Thompson playing more minutes with Jordan Poole helped Golden State outscore Memphis by seven in the final two frames.
But that’s not a typical result for the Warriors without Green. They were 34-12 with him in the lineup and 19-17 without him this regular season. And they didn’t exactly win Game 1 without him in convincing fashion.
Curry is the generational talent, but Green has often operated as Golden State’s engine on both ends of the floor.
We’ll tab 2014-15 as the unofficial start of the Warriors lightyears dynasty. And since the beginning of that campaign (regular and postseason combined), the team is plus-14.2 points per 100 possessions when both Curry and Green are on the floor, compared to plus-7.9 when Curry plays without Green.
His playmaking on both ends of the floor, willingness and ability to guard all five positions and the intensity that sometimes leads him to early exits takes the Warriors from great to all-timer.
He has to be available to bring all of that to the game, though. And from now until whenever this playoff run ends, he has to find the balance between intense and reckless.
Otherwise, he may find himself talking about regrets in another future podcast appearance.
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