Green ejected early in Golden State win

Draymond Green was ejected two minutes into the third quarter of Monday night's game against the Phoenix Suns. The Warriors center accumulated two technical fouls on a single sequence of events, removing him from Golden State's roster during their 116-113 victory.

The incident began after Suns center Khaman Maluach pushed Green to the ground in the paint. Green jumped up from underneath, wrapped his arms around Maluach, and threw the larger player to the floor. Dillon Brooks sprinted over to intervene and approached Green, leading to a push and shove. Green placed his hand on Brooks' neck, and officials assessed technical fouls to both players.

Brooks described his actions as an attempt to manage the situation. “I was just trying to deescalate the whole thing,” Brooks said. “He did a lot there, fell down, and pushed him at the end of it. I was just trying to deescalate it. He was just tweaking all game. So let it be.”

Green's absence did not dampen the energy of his teammates. Stephen Curry noted the reaction immediately. “He lit a fire in all of us and we had to respond, so I'm glad we did,” Curry said. Guard Brandin Podziemski added that the moment provided the edge the team lacked earlier in the contest. “We didn't have that edge to ust to start the game,” Podziemski said. “Found it a little bit in the second quarter and then they came out in the third quarter pretty well and then that kind of changed the game for us.”

Tempers flared again with 7:26 remaining in the game. Players pushed and shoved, requiring security personnel to separate them. Miles Bridges received a technical foul after running to the baseline and pushing Charles Bassey. Bridges had previously kept his arms wrapped around Jalen Green's head after a rebound fight. “That was a dumb time to get a technical,” Bridges said. “It would've been able to tie the game up. But it's a physical game, a lot of emotions, a lot of missed calls, a lot of calls that were called that shouldn't have been called.”

This was Green's first ejection this season and the 23rd of his career. He has recorded 182 career technical fouls, with three occurring this season. Maluach, who was involved in the initial scuffle, maintained that the incident was simply part of the game. “I think it's just a basketball paly, he's just out there playing basketball,” Maluach said. “Nothing against Draymond, he's just playing basketball out there.”