Category: Sports News

Draymond Green accuses NBA referees of ‘agenda' after Game 2 technical foul originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Draymond Green is among America’s most polarizing professional athletes, feeling targeted by NBA officials and surely is high on the list of players crudely heckled by fans.

Both factors likely contributed to his brief, pointed postgame statements Thursday night at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the Warriors took a 117-93 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.

After being assessed with a technical foul in the second quarter and getting harassed by fans in the arena, Green demonstratively expressed his feelings to reporters in the locker room.

“I’m not an angry Black man,” he said. “I’m a very successful, educated Black man, with a great family. And I’m great at basketball. Great at what I do. The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.”

This is the outburst of a man who feels persecuted by officials – and for years has been disparaged by fans when the Warriors are on the road. Who will ever forget the wretched treatment he received in Boston during the 2022 NBA Finals?

Yet there is an undercurrent of belief around the league that Green’s history of fines and suspensions has resulted in different and less lenient rules for him than his fellow players. Some believe it – Draymond obviously does – but others do not.

After officials’ crew chief Tony Brothers assessed, upon review, a technical foul on Green for a flailing left arm that landed on the face of Minnesota’s Naz Reid with 8:46 left in the second quarter, Green’s furious reaction prompted Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and coach Steve Kerr to take turns interceding.

Kerr ultimately opted to put Green on the bench for the next six minutes in hopes he would cool off. There were no more flare-ups for the remainder of the game, but Draymond’s postgame statement is proof that he still was simmering.

This was Green’s fifth technical foul in nine postseason games. A one-game suspension hits after a player reaches seven. He also has two flagrant fouls on his ledger, and four of those also warrant suspension.

It’s apparent that Green was upset by something that occurred during the game. Maybe some things.

Draymond Green accuses NBA referees of ‘agenda' after Game 2 technical foul originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Draymond Green is among America’s most polarizing professional athletes, feeling targeted by NBA officials and surely is high on the list of players crudely heckled by fans.

Both factors likely contributed to his brief, pointed postgame statements Thursday night at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the Warriors took a 117-93 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.

After being assessed with a technical foul in the second quarter and getting harassed by fans in the arena, Green demonstratively expressed his feelings to reporters in the locker room.

“I’m not an angry Black man,” he said. “I’m a very successful, educated Black man, with a great family. And I’m great at basketball. Great at what I do. The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.”

This is the outburst of a man who feels persecuted by officials – and for years has been disparaged by fans when the Warriors are on the road. Who will ever forget the wretched treatment he received in Boston during the 2022 NBA Finals?

Yet there is an undercurrent of belief around the league that Green’s history of fines and suspensions has resulted in different and less lenient rules for him than his fellow players. Some believe it – Draymond obviously does – but others do not.

After officials’ crew chief Tony Brothers assessed, upon review, a technical foul on Green for a flailing left arm that landed on the face of Minnesota’s Naz Reid with 8:46 left in the second quarter, Green’s furious reaction prompted Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and coach Steve Kerr to take turns interceding.

Kerr ultimately opted to put Green on the bench for the next six minutes in hopes he would cool off. There were no more flare-ups for the remainder of the game, but Draymond’s postgame statement is proof that he still was simmering.

This was Green’s fifth technical foul in nine postseason games. A one-game suspension hits after a player reaches seven. He also has two flagrant fouls on his ledger, and four of those also warrant suspension.

It’s apparent that Green was upset by something that occurred during the game. Maybe some things.

Jonathan Kuminga gives Warriors unexpected, needed scoring option against Wolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Seizing an opportunity granted out of necessity, Jonathan Kuminga showed up Thursday night for the Warriors. As fate would have it, his effort to pull them from the hole they dug went for naught.

With neither Jimmy Butler III nor Draymond Green producing much under exigent conditions, Kuminga’s encouraging performance gives coach Steve Kerr something to ponder beyond a 117-93 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.

With Stephen Curry sidelined, Kerr and his staff planned for Kuminga to play. He played well enough to move from the far end of the bench to the heart of the rotation as the series moves to the Bay Area for Games 3 and 4.

“Did a great job, I thought,” Kerr told reporters at Target Center. “I was very proud of just the way he’s stayed ready, stayed positive. This has not been an easy stretch for him, and he really came out there and did a great job today, kind of showing what he’s made of.

“He obviously will be back out there for Game 3. And we’re going to need him.”

They got Kuminga on Thursday, but the task was too tall for him or any individual to succeed. After the Warriors won Game 1 but lost Curry in the process, this was the fully expected outcome. Aside from a third-quarter rally – an 11-3 run ignited by a Kuminga dunk that pulled them within seven – that lasted less than three minutes, they were vastly inferior to the determined Wolves.

The series is tied 1-1 because Minnesota found its offense and exploited Golden State’s smorgasbord of glitches. Moses Moody not passing to Brandin Podziemski for a layup and shooting a 10-foot airball. Kuminga watching Donte DiVincenzo scurry past him to secure a loose ball. Buddy Hield tossing a pass into the backcourt for a violation. Pat Spencer overdribbling into live-ball turnover. Trayce Jackson-Davis rolling and signaling for a lob and Podziemski missing the cue.

All this in a first half that ended with Golden State giving up 56 points and scoring 39, topped by 10 from Kuminga on 5-of-5 shooting in nine minutes off the bench.

Kuminga finished with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, from the field, adding five rebounds. He was minus-8 in 26 minutes, his longest run since March 17, when he played 28 minutes in a loss to the Denver Nuggets.

“Everything just came back together, as long as you stay out there and you know who you’re playing with,” Kuminga said. “Just having that rhythm, breaking this way and just staying, locked in. The rhythm kind of comes back slowly.”

Kuminga’s place in the team hierarchy tumbled with the Feb. 8 arrival of Jimmy Butler III. Kerr is reluctant to play Draymond Green, Kuminga and Butler because it creates serious floor-spacing issues. Put simply, opponents do not fear their 3-point shooting.

Yet all three started the third quarter and were on the floor, with Hield and Podziemski, during Golden State’s brief comeback attempt. They outscored Minnesota 19-9 over the first six minutes of the quarter.

Which might be why Butler believes there is a way, for all three, certainly he and Kuminga, to be productive in tandem.

“I can play with anybody; he can play with anybody,” Butler said. “It’s all about playing basketball the right way. It’s all it is, attack to score, attack to pass, just make the right play over and over and over again, every single time, no matter who you’re out there with.

“Just play basketball the right way. And me and JK, could thrive. Can and will thrive together on the basketball court.”

Kuminga’s shooting efficiency wasn’t nearly enough to bring the Warriors back from a deficit that was as high as 22 before halftime. It was enough, however, to put him back in the rotation.

Podziemski is struggling to score, shooting 16-of-44 from the field, including 7-of-26 from deep, over his last five games. Moody’s offense has gone into hibernation, as he has missed his last 14 shots spanning three games and is 24-of-71/12-of-39 in nine postseason games.

Golden State needs offense in the worst way, and Kuminga’s Game 2 performance makes him an option.

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Kuminga, TJD could force Kerr's hand after athleticism in Game 2 loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

MINNEAPOLIS – Minutes were top of mind for Warriors coach Steve Kerr going into Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Thursday at Target Center. As in how many minutes his two veteran stars, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, would play with Steph Curry sidelined by a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. 

Kerr wasn’t going to chase a win and run two 35-year-olds into the ground after the high-intensity stretch of games they’ve been playing with little rest in between, boarding numerous flights since the NBA playoffs began two and a half weeks ago. His bench brigade was given a warning, or better yet, an opportunity. 

The Green Machine was ready to roll.

The nickname refers to a group of reserves who wore green practice jerseys in their first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets. It’s a group that showed fight and grit whenever given an opportunity. A group that energizes and doesn’t back down. 

“He was like, ‘Green Machine, be ready. This might be a game you guys get in. Could be two minutes at the top of the second.’ We got in and we’re just trying to cause havoc,” Trayce Jackson-Davis said.

The Warriors lost Game 2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves by 24 points Thursday night, evening the series at one win apiece, but two bright spots off the bench will have to make Kerr rethink his ever-changing rotation. Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 18 points off the bench, making his first eight shots, and grabbed five rebounds. Jackson-Davis scored 15 points, making all six of his shots, and the backup center hauled in six rebounds. 

Unlike Game 1, the Warriors didn’t have the advantage from the 3-point line. Coming by threes always becomes harder without the gravity and greatness of the best shooter in the game’s history. The Warriors had a 39-point advantage from long distance Tuesday. The Timberwolves on Thursday tallied 21 more points beyond the arc than them. 

That’s where the athleticism of Kuminga and Jackson-Davis can become an advantage for the Warriors without Curry. 

“The domino effect of Steph being out led to Trayce playing tonight,” Kerr explained. “Because we need the scoring, we need the finishing. You saw what he did out there. Same thing with JK. 

“We had found a formula over the last couple of months and obviously we’re having a lot of success, but without Steph the formula completely goes out the window, and we’ve got to figure out the next one.”

Whatever Kerr concocts next, Kuminga and Jackson-Davis should be part of the equation, at least for Game 3 on Saturday night at Chase Center. Both young players fell out of the rotation throughout the year, but each provides something the rest of the team doesn’t. 

They combined for five dunks, three from Jackson-Davis and two by Kuminga. The Warriors scored 42 points in the paint, with 24 – 12 each – coming from Jackson-Davis and Kuminga.

All six of Jackson-Davis’ made shots were within three feet of the basket, the furthest being one of the best sequences of the game from either side. Donte DiVincenzo saw Rudy Gobert get behind Jackson-Davis, but the Warriors center recognized what was going on, backpedaled and met him at the rim to deny an alley-oop. He then sprinted the floor, caught a pass from Brandin Podziemski in stride and the lefty finished with a right-handed finger roll through traffic for a three-point play. 

With Gobert on him at the right corner during the second quarter, Butler yelled for Kuminga to attack. He did, taking the 7-foot-1 Frenchman off the dribble before dunking on his head. 

“They’re a big team, so to have a rim presence and threat is important,” Kerr said.

But adding Jackson-Davis and Kuminga to a shorter rotation than using all 14 players like Kerr did in Game 2 means eliminating two players. Specifically, Moses Moody and Quinten Post.

Moody in 16 minutes off the bench was a minus-14 with all three of his points coming at the free-throw line. He missed all five of his shot attempts, including four 3-pointers. Moody in the last three games has now taken 14 shots, including eight threes, and is 0 of 14.

“He’s not in a rhythm right now,” Kerr said. “We just have to stay with it. He’s got to stay with it. I’m very confident, because I’ve watched Moses for four years. I know his character, I know his work ethic, I know his skill. He’ll find his way back.” 

For the fifth time in nine playoff games, Kerr used a different starting lineup. Matching the Timberwolves’ size and needing spacing without Curry, Kerr chose to go with rookie center Post. The decision backfired badly.

Minnesota went on a 13-0 run to begin the game in three-plus minutes. Post was replaced by Kuminga to start the second half, and he didn’t see the court again after that first ugly stint. He has played nine minutes through two games this series, having yet to score and only has one rebound. 

A deficit that big, that fast is a tough enough blow when the Warriors do have Curry. Without him, swimming upstream had them sinking despite multiple valiant efforts. 

“Experimental or not, I’d still like to win,” Butler said. “I think the biggest lesson is don’t start off in a hole like we did tonight. That game maybe could have ended up a little bit differently, but it’s hard to come out of that hole.”

The loss isn’t on Moody, nor is it on Post. Curry’s injury forced Kerr’s hand at almost another feel-it-out game, and what became clear is the athleticism and rim pressure Kuminga and Jackson-Davis provide is worth running back for a longer look, starting Saturday night back on their home court in front of Dub Nation.

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