Draymond Green was ejected from Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Green committed a hard foul on Brandon Clarke with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. The foul was reviewed and upgraded to a Flagrant 2, which led to the ejection. The official explained that the foul was changed to a Flagrant 2 because of “the windup to the face, the impact to the face, the follow through to the jersey and the throw down to the ground.”
You can see the play below:
Draymond Green was ejected from the game after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul on this play.#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/C4YtPuh99C
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 1, 2022
Green ran around taunting fans at FedExForum as he made his way to the locker room.
Draymond Green vs the Grizzlies fanspic.twitter.com/YmGT4hZVB6 https://t.co/qOZgtrCTR7
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 (@_Talkin_NBA) May 1, 2022
The foul did not look all that bad in real time. Green did grab Clarke’s jersey, but he also tried to prevent him from hitting the floor hard. The blow to the head was probably the biggest issue. Green has been known to voice his feelings about controversial calls in the past, so he will likely have something to say about his ejection.
Green finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 17 minutes. The Grizzlies led 54-53 at the time of the ejection and took a 61-55 lead into the half.
