Draymond Green, a forward for the Golden State Warriors, forewarned the Memphis Grizzlies about their perceived attempt to “poke the bear.”
“Maybe they were trying to get me thrown out of the game or something,” Green told reporters following their scuffle-marred 137-116 win on Wednesday, March 20, at Chase Center. “It didn’t work. Actually, it worked against them. So I don’t know. You got to be careful when you do stuff like that because they were playing pretty well and I think at that point they were down two and then they were done after that. So you gotta be careful faking.”
One play after Green confronted Grizzlies big man Santi Aldama for pushing him by pulling his jersey, things almost went out of control.
No calls were made. Game on.
On the opposite end, Moses Moody made a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 49-47 lead.
Coach Taylor Jenkins of Memphis immediately hailed a timeout and questioned the officials’ lack of response to Green’s outburst.
Green went to the referees’ to hear Jenkins’ grievances. Desmond Bane, a player for the Grizzlies, then approached to keep Green away from Jenkins and the referee. However, as players and coaches from both sides raced to the scene to stop the situation from getting worse, Green shoved Bane’s hands away.
“I didn’t really think there was a sequence. I got grabbed and my arm snatched away and I got a [technical foul],” Green said of the incident with Bane.
After cooler heads prevailed, Green and Bane both received a technical foul before shaking hands.