Draymond Green has it out for Dillon Brooks and has now accumulated 31 ejections in his career

Golden State Warriors found a way to win even after losing Draymond Green due to ejection. The power forward received two technical fouls on the same play during the third quarter of the game against the Phoenix Suns, but his team reacted to the adversity and ended up winning 116-113. A comeback that allowed Steve Kerr's team to string together their fifth consecutive victory, with Stephen Curry and an unexpected Charles Bassey as the protagonists.

Green was ejected for the first time this season and for the thirty-first time in his career, including both the regular season and the playoffs. The incident occurred with ten minutes left in the third quarter, during a defensive action under the basket where he faced Phoenix center Khaman Maluach.

The Golden State player ended up on the floor while defending his opponent. As soon as he got up, he grabbed Maluach, an action that the referees penalized with a personal foul. However, after the whistle, Green knocked the Suns' interior down to the court again. The officials considered it a throwdown and assessed him with a first technical foul.

Tension immediately escalated. Dillon Brooks, a forward for Phoenix and a longtime rival of Green, left the top of the key to confront him. Both started grabbing at each other’s jerseys and exchanged intense glares before other players and team members intervened to separate them.

“I was just trying to calm the situation,” explained Brooks. “He was upset the whole game.”

Green is ejected again after a confrontation with Dillon Brooks

After reviewing the situation, the referees decided to call a double technical foul against Green and Brooks. The second penalty on the Warriors player led to his automatic ejection, ending his participation in a game that was still very much in play.

Steve Kerr downplayed the severity of the confrontation and tried to frame it within the intensity typical of competition. The coach did not consider that a particularly concerning incident had occurred, despite losing one of his team's most important players at a critical time.

“It’s just two of the best players in the NBA competing,” Kerr noted. “Nothing serious happened.”

Green did not speak to reporters after the game, but records of his career highlight his history of confrontations with rivals and disciplinary issues. This was his twenty-third ejection during the regular season in his 15-year career. This adds to another eight in the playoffs.

The reaction of his teammates was particularly significant. Rather than collapse after losing Green, the Warriors used the incident as a boost to change the course of the game. Stephen Curry acknowledged that the ejection had helped activate the team at a moment when they needed a response.

“He lit a spark in all of us,” Curry said of Green. “We had to respond, and I’m glad we did.”

Image

Charles Bassey takes advantage of the ejection and delivers the best game of his career

The situation was not easy for Golden State. The Warriors were facing the second night of back-to-back games and seemed to not be playing at their highest intensity. Across from them were a Phoenix team that arrived more rested and had managed to take control of the scoreboard.

When Green was ejected, Phoenix was leading 67-57. The ten-point deficit, coupled with the loss of one of the team's defensive and emotional leaders, could become a significant problem for Kerr's squad. However, the course of the game changed completely from that moment on.

The Warriors outscored the Suns by 13 points following Green's ejection and ultimately completed a comeback that saw them win 116-113. One of the key factors was the response of Charles Bassey, the backup center who took Green's place and seized the opportunity to deliver the best performance of his career.

Bassey finished with 19 points and eight rebounds in just 23 minutes. His contribution was crucial in keeping Golden State in the game and compensating, at least in part, for Green's absence during the decisive stretch.

Curry seals the game for Phoenix and the Warriors tally five straight wins

With Bassey providing unexpected offensive production, Curry took on the responsibility of closing out the game. The point guard finished with 34 points in 33 minutes, including five three-pointers and 11 made free throws. His performance was once again decisive for Golden State to complete a comeback that seemed challenging after Green's ejection.

The start of the season for the Warriors' leader has also been remarkable from the free-throw line. Curry has made 51 of his 52 free-throw attempts, and his scoring average reaches 30 points per game after six games, placing him as the third-highest scorer in the NBA.

The victory over Phoenix also marks Golden State's fifth consecutive win, which has transformed a challenging start into a positive run. Green's ejection might have affected the outcome, but the team responded with a collective performance that allowed them to overcome adversity.

The incident with Brooks again placed Green in the center of controversy, although the night ended with a more favorable interpretation for the Warriors: even without one of their cornerstones, they were able to react, find solutions from the bench, and trust Curry to close out the game.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Draymond Green la tiene con Dillon Brooks y ya suma 31 expulsiones en su carrera