The Warriors started the second half of their 118-110 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday at Chase Center in a deep hole, and Draymond Green tried to dig his team out.
But the walls ended up succumbing to the overzealous green.
Having already had one technical foul, Green’s antics in the third quarter led to a second technical foul and eventual ejection.
Green tried to light a fire under the Warriors in the third quarter. First, he drew an offensive foul on Cavs center Jarrett Allen, and let him hear it all the way down the field. Then he picked off the pocket of Donovan Mitchell and drew a foul on the All-Star guard as they fought for the loose ball.
But Green went too far when he hit Mitchell out of bounds on a layup by Caris LeVert. Mitchell did not take kindly to this, attacking Green as they ran back onto the field.
A lengthy replay review led officials to retroactively evaluate a technical on Green for bumping Mitchell’s shoulder before retaliating.
Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff liked what he saw from his players.
“Our guys are defending themselves and protecting themselves,” Bickerstaff told reporters after the game. “There was a play before where Donovan got hurt in the back, and again, we talked about that, and we’re not going to back down from anyone. So I’m proud of the guys who stood up for themselves, but then again, not letting it change the course of the game and get into Something we didn’t need to get involved in and let them run wild.
“But it was intentional to galvanize their team. I felt it the entire third quarter. I thought it could have been nipped in the bud early but that’s the way it is as we move forward.”
LeVert, who scored as Green collided with Mitchell out of bounds, told reporters he didn’t see everything that happened, but was happy with his team’s response.
The Warriors trailed by 16 points entering the third quarter, but won the period 31-16, cutting the Cavaliers’ lead to one point entering the fourth quarter.
“Everyone on the court is very competitive, so there was a lot of barking back and forth,” LeVert told reporters. “I don’t know if we handled it the right way at first. They kind of ran wild after that. But we settled down. We got back to what we were doing, and I think that’s what I was most proud of.” “In the fourth quarter, we came back and were doing what we were doing earlier in the game. In the third quarter, we got into it a little bit and let them run.”
Any momentum Green created in the third quarter was lost in the fourth as the Cavaliers pulled away for their second win over the Warriors in a week.
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