Draymond Green was ejected early in the second half of Golden State's 116-113 win over Phoenix on Monday night after consecutive technical fouls. Stephen Curry said the ejection fired up the Warriors, while Dillon Brooks and Green disagreed over Brooks' role.
Warriors center Draymond Green was ejected two minutes into the third quarter of Golden State's 116-113 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night for consecutive technical fouls. The ejection followed a pair of on-court incidents.
Suns center Khaman Maluach pushed Green to the ground in the paint, and Green jumped up and threw Maluach to the floor. Officials judged the toss, which came after the whistle, to be a throwdown that led to the first technical. Dillon Brooks then rushed in, creating another flash point, and Green put his hand on Brooks' neck. Green and Brooks both received technical fouls after the pushing and shoving.
Tempers flared again with 7:26 remaining, when Miles Bridges received a technical after pushing Golden State's Charles Bassey. The push came after Bassey kept his arms wrapped around Jalen Green's head following a rebound fight. Bridges said getting a technical at that time was dumb because it would have been able to tie the game.
It was Green's first ejection this season and the 23rd of his career, and he had two last season. He has 182 career technicals, three of them this season.
Stephen Curry said Green's ejection lit a fire in the Warriors and that the team had to respond. Brandin Podziemski said Green's fire fueled Golden State and changed the game for the team.
Brooks had said he wanted to de-escalate a tense situation in Monday's game. He later said he was trying to de-escalate and that Green was tweaking throughout the game. Green said on his podcast that Brooks was not trying to de-escalate but was trying to be the villain, and that this type of energy will not be respected. The next Golden State-Phoenix meeting is on Dec. 28.
