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Trailing 2-0 in their series against the Sacramento Kings, Draymond Green was suspended for a pivotal Game 3.
In Game 2, Green stepped on the chest of Kings' Domantas Sabonis, which led to a flagrant foul 2 and an ejection, but the league felt he needed a further punishment.
The defending champion Golden State Warriors have not faced a two-games-to-nothing deficit since 2007 and have not been knocked out in the first round of the NBA playoffs since 2014.
Thankfully, Golden State took home a 114-97 win, thanks to 36 points from Stephen Curry.
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Draymond Green, #23 of the Golden State Warriors, steps over Domantas Sabonis, #10 of the Sacramento Kings, in the second half during Game Two of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at Golden 1 Center on April 17, 2023, in Sacramento, California. Green was issued a flagrant foul 2 on the play and was ejected from the game. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Although Green will be back for Game 4 and is pretty much forgiven, since his Warriors won the game he missed, it's going to take him a while to get over missing the game.
"I know everyone wants to hear my thoughts on the suspension. I never knew you could be suspended for a flagrant two that happened seven years ago," he said on his podcast, citing that the NBA had suspended him "based in part on Green's history of unsportsmanlike acts."
"And I also didn’t know you get suspended for interacting with a crowd that’s flipping you double birds and yelling your name and chants that ‘You suck.' Saying that, my guys played well. My guys played really well, stepped up to the challenge, and it was absolutely incredible to see. I hope everyone enjoyed the game. I mean, I can’t say I really enjoyed the game, quite frankly. There’s nothing worse."
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green reacts after he was ejected from Game 2 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs for stomping on the chest of Sacramento's Domantas Sabonis, Monday, April 17, 2023, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)
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This wasn't the first time Green was suspended for a playoff game — he was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The Warriors were leading LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 3-1 in that series, and the rest is history.
Getting suspended from Thursday night's bout didn't compare to missing that game, Green admitted, but it was probably a close second.
"To get suspended from Game 5 of the NBA Finals, there’s never another NBA game that you could suspend me from that’ll be like, ‘Oh my god, I’m suspended.’ But just not being able to participate in the dog fight with my brothers part is the worst. So, I’m very thankful for the effort that the guys put out there yesterday to save our season," he said.
"By the way, being suspended from a game at this point in my career, it will never affect me from an emotional standpoint outside of my fellas was in a dog fight — is in a dog fight — and just not being able to participate in that dog fight, that’s crushing. Because you just feel like you’re leaving them out there by themselves, leaving them astray to just figure it out. So, to not participate in that dog fight, that’s what bothers me the most."
Draymond Green, #23 of the Golden State Warriors, goes for a loose ball against Domantas Sabonis, #10 of the Sacramento Kings, during the first quarter of Game One of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at the Golden 1 Center on April 15, 2023, in Sacramento, California. (Loren Elliott/Getty Images)
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Golden State now trail 2-1 with a chance to tie the series on their home court Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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