Draymond Green was amped up for Game 2 of the NBA Finals and his heightened aggressiveness was a familiar role he’s played for the Warriors over the years.
Game 2 might have gone a lot differently had Draymond Green been handed his second technical foul and ejected just before halftime of the Warriors’ 107-88 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday, which evened up the NBA Finals at a game apiece.
Green, who had already picked up a technical foul over an incident with Grant Williams, was in another kerfuffle with Jaylen Brown. Green fouled Brown while contesting a 3-pointer, and then Brown swung Green’s legs off his head while both players were on the floor -- to which Green took exception. The two had words and were separated, but the referees let the play slide without calling a technical.
To some, it was simply a no-call. For Williams, it was an opportunity to seek the same treatment for anyone on the Celtics should a similar situation play out later in the series. Williams told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes that he thought Green wasn’t given a second technical – and an automatic ejection – because he was a key player and received some deferential leeway from the referees.
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“By the rules, a tech is a tech regardless of the situation. But as players, all we want to see is consistency,” Williams said. “When the refs decided not to give Dray a second tech, we expected it and we moved on. We didn’t harp on it. We just hope that grace is extended for everyone.”
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Williams added that the Celtics just “want to know how the game is going to be officiated and then we’ll adjust”
“I personally believe you have to understand the magnitude of the game and how an ejection can impact the game,” Williams said. “No one wants to see the game impacted by an ejection. But either all techs are the same or you consider the situation when [contemplating] a second tech. We just want the rules to be enforced straightforward and consistently.”
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It will be interesting to see how the referees handle a potential situation where Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown has a technical foul and are in danger of picking up a second. The Celtics, surely, will seek the same favor that they believe the referees gave Green in Game 2.