The Los Angeles Lakers are training for the start of the playoffs (from YouTube)
Bad news for Golden State: although early estimates in the United States spoke of a relatively light punishment for Draymond Green following the stepping incident, the NBA decided to get tougher with the problematic player and suspended him from Game 3 of the series against Sacramento.
As you remember, Green was sent off 7 minutes before the end of the last quarter after stepping on Domantas Sabonis with power.
Green claimed that the Kings' star grabbed his ankle and didn't allow him landing space with his leg, which caused him to hurt it - but the NBA was not convinced by the explanations, and even stung Green in the grounds for the punishment.
"The punishment is also partially based on Green's history, and on his unsportsmanlike conduct in the past," the league explained.
This is a difficult loss for the Warriors, who will come to the third game against the Kings with their backs against the wall, when they are in real danger of elimination already in the first round.
As you remember, the Warriors are behind 2:0 in the series, a deficit they have never had in the era of Steph Curry and Steve Kerr.
The explanations did not convince.
The step-by-step (photo: screenshot, from the TV broadcasts)
Green, who leads the team this season in assists and blocks and leads it in the plus/minus index, is a key player in the team this season as well.
The numbers also prove it: the Warriors won 56% of the games in which Green took part, and when he was absent they won only 33%.
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Draymond Green
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