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Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is suspended for one game without pay after the incident that happened in Game 2 of the Western Conference Playoff series between the Warriors and the Sacramento Kings which the Kings won 114-106 to take a 2-0 lead.
Joe Dumars, the NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations, said that the suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.
Green will serve his suspension on April 20 when Golden State host Sacramento for Game 3 of the series at Chase Center.
What actually happened?
Green’s suspension is the outcome of an incident that happened in the final period of Monday’s Game 2 between the Warriors and Kings. After a Kings’ guard Malik Monk missed a floater, Kings power forward Domantas Sabonis tried to get the rebound which saw him following on the ground after a collision with Warriors’ Klay Thompson. Sabonis grabbed Green’s leg, and in retaliation, Green stomped on his chest. Sabonis stayed on the ground in obvious pain and Green was immediately ejected from the game, while Sabonis was assessed a flagrant-1 foul.
Speaking to the media after the game, Green said: “My leg got grabbed. The second time in two nights with the referees just watching. I got to land my foot somewhere and I am not the most flexible person so it’s not stretching that far. I can only step so far and pulling my leg away, so it is what it is.”
“The explanation was I stomped too hard,” Green said when asked what the referees had told him. “It was Monk last game so either you’re going to stop it…”
Sabonis had his version of the events and didn’t hesitate to speak loud about it.
“There’s no room for that in our game today,” the Lithuanian said. Sabonis also commented that he was hit in the jaw earlier in the game. “I feel like it’s the playoffs,” he said. “A lot of things happen. I get pushed, I’m falling on the floor, I’m just trying to protect myself.”
But when Sabonis was asked if he looked at Green any different, he didn’t have anything but respect for the four-time NBA champion.
“He’s a great player,” Sabonis said. “He comes in, he competes. He’s the defending champion, we know it’s going to be a physical battle out there.”
A prove of ow physical this incident really was came a day later when the Kings announced that Sabonis received a medical evaluation that included X-ray imaging on Monday night and Tuesday afternoon.
Results showed that Sabonis sustained a sternum contusion and will be listed as questionable for Thursday’s game versus the Warriors.
Green’s absence will be a major problem for the Warriors who are already 2-0 down in the series. The Warriors are playing much better at home if Sabonis do play, there will be no player that can try to slow him down as Green is out. Sabonis averaged 19.1 points and 12.3 rebounds per game during the 2022-23 regular season and he had 24 and 9 in Game 2.
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