"It’s not shocking that he did that; it’s something he’s done in the past" - Brandon Clarke on being on the receiving end of Draymond Green's flagrant foul while Steph Curry defends his teammate
Draymond Green was involved in a controversy less than 24 minutes into Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors vs Memphis Grizzlies series. The Warriors’ defensive lynchpin was called for a Flagrant 2 foul on Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke and was ejected with 1:18 to go in the second quarter.
As the first half was winding down, Kyle Anderson, guarded by Green, drove into the lane before dropping it off to Clarke.
Warriors rookie Jonathan Kuminga met Anderson at the rim, which momentarily freed Clarke for an uncontested dunk. Green, however, managed to recover and grabbed Clarke’s jersey before yanking him down to the ground.
Here’s what Brandon Clarke had to say in a postgame interview after the controversial call and subsequent ejection of Draymond Green:
“I can take a hit, man, He’s been known for flagrant fouls in his career. I’ve watched him on TV my whole life, it feels like. I wasn’t really shocked… It’s not shocking that he did that. It’s something he’s done in the past.”
Brandon Clarke on Draymond's Flagrant 2 foul: “It’s not shocking that he did that. It’s something he’s done in the past" https://t.co/SLgLwTRXrp
While the referees were reviewing the call, Green was seen explaining to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr that his “hand got caught in his jersey.” The officials didn’t see it that way as they promptly ejected the former Defensive Player of the Year.
Following the ejection, Steph Curry went to the refs to tell them, it was “f****ng crazy.”
Although he grabbed and yanked Clarke to the ground, Green also held him and cautioned his fall. Had he intended to inflict harm, he could have just let him fall without any help.
The Golden State Warriors went into the halftime break trailing the Memphis Grizzlies 61-55 but came out even more determined in the third quarter.
Golden State played with better focus to end their best quarter of the game, outscoring Memphis 36-29.
Steph Curry furiously disagreed with the referees' call to eject Draymond Green
The Golden State Warriors’ two-time MVP was evidently furious by the call that ejected Draymond Green. Besides calling the decision crazy, he felt like those kinds of calls could ruin the game.
Steph Curry made it clear that the officials were wrong about the call in a post-game interview:
“It was a tough call, on the road to start the series and you get a guy like Draymond headed to the locker room. Nobody wants to see that, it’s not good for the game. I don’t think he deserved that, obviously."
"We got a little emotional rise out of it, trying to stay locked in and deal with the circumstances and give ourselves a chance to win. We obviously did that in the second half, but that was a tough one.”
Steph doesn’t believe Draymond deserved to be ejected: “It’s not good for the game” https://t.co/ifJ1XeRZuC
Even without Green, the Warriors managed to hold the fort. Curry also made a big impact on defense with a key block on Ja Morant that helped push Golden State to the win.