The last thing the Memphis Grizzlies should want after falling behind 1-0 in their second-round series against the Warriors on Sunday is to play Game 2 against an angry Warriors team.
Despite pulling out the 117-116 win, the Warriors have plenty of reasons to be upset over the officiating, especially a questionable ejection of Draymond Green in the first half on a foul that was ruled a Flagrant 2.
Green pulled Memphis’ Brandon Clarke to the court by dragging his jersey in the second quarter – certainly a foul and maybe a flagrant, but many were surprised that it warranted an ejection.
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The man who was on the receiving end of the foul, though, certainly did.
“He’s been known for flagrant fouls in his career,” Clarke said to reporters after the game. “I’ve watched him on TV my whole life, it feels like. I wasn’t really shocked.”
Clarke wasn’t hurt on the play, but he said that Green hit him “pretty hard.” Clarke added that he’s going to focus on his team and that he’s not going to worry about Green. But he seemed pretty convinced that Green’s ejection was deserved.
“It’s not shocking that did that,” Clarke said. “It’s something he’s done in the past.”
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According to lead official Kane Fitzgerald, Green was kicked out of the game because the foul involved a “wind up and significant contact to the face,” followed by “the pull down from the jersey grab and throw down to the floor” of an “airborne vulnerable” in Clarke.
It remains to be seen whether Green – who immediately began recording a podcast after the game – will see or respond to Clarke’s comments. But it is almost a certainty that he’ll come out with a chip on his shoulder in Game 2 regardless.