Draymond Green was right. Just as the former Defensive Player of the Year suspected, the Warriors were indeed fine, evening the NBA Finals at 1-1, burying the Celtics with a third-quarter avalanche led by the backcourt trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and honorary Splash Brother Jordan Poole, who contributed 25 of Golden State’s 35 third-quarter points.
Though he only attempted three shots, Green had his fingerprints all over Game 2, doing a little of everything with nine points, seven assists, five boards, a blocked shot and one steal over 35 minutes of court time. And that’s only what showed up in the box score.
Before the game, Green said he wanted the Celtics to “feel us on every possession,” suggesting the Warriors weren’t physical enough in Game 1. A master agitator known for getting under opponents’ skin, Green dialed up the intensity Sunday night, playing head games with Jayson Tatum while also getting into it with Jaylen Brown during a heated sequence in the second quarter. The two had to be separated with officials going to the monitor to determine whether technical fouls were warranted. After already getting T’d up in the first quarter, a second technical would have resulted in Draymond’s ejection.
If it were a regular season game, or even an earlier playoff round, Green and Brown probably would have been hit with matching Ts. Instead, after a lengthy review, Sunday’s officiating crew led by Zach Zarba, Tony Brothers and Josh Tiven let the play stand as it was called on the floor—a shooting foul on Green with three free throws for Brown.
You may recall Green was suspended for kicking LeBron James during the 2016 NBA Finals, a costly absence that many would argue swung the series in Cleveland’s favor. Green’s dustup with Brown didn’t rise to nearly that level and, given how poorly Boston played (18 turnovers, 37.5 field-goal percentage), maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference. Still, it’s easy to envision an alternate reality where Green’s ejection leads to a momentum shift for the Celtics, allowing Boston back in the game.
A boundary-pusher if there ever was one (the late Charlie Murphy of Chappelle’s Show fame would refer to him as a “habitual line-stepper”), Green appears to be testing the waters, seeing how much he can get away with in a tight series that could go the distance. This poses an interesting conundrum for officials, who are left to walk a dangerous tightrope, allowing the game to be physical without getting out of hand. All the Celtics can do is not take the bait, ignoring Green’s antics and getting back to playing the kind of smart, disciplined basketball that got them to the NBA Finals.
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