Warriors' Draymond Green draws Kendrick Perkins' criticism after ejection vs. Suns
Kendrick Perkins called Draymond Green a liability after his ejection against Phoenix, as the 5-3 Warriors get ready to host Miami on Thursday.
Draymond Green's first ejection of the season came in a game the Golden State Warriors still won. A day later, the debate is about whether Golden State is winning because of him or in spite of him. Former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins went after the veteran forward on ESPN's "First Take," the New York Post reported. Perkins said Green "has been a liability more than an asset" early in the season.
The ejection came early in the third quarter of Monday's 116-113 win over the Phoenix Suns at Chase Center. Green was hit with two technical fouls on the same sequence after he put Suns center Khaman Maluach on the floor and then tangled with Dillon Brooks. ESPN reported it was the 31st ejection of his career. According to Warriors Wire, Green is not expected to face any further discipline from the league, so he should be available going forward.
Perkins argued that Green's on-court production has dried up and that he keeps making headlines for confrontations rather than basketball. He also said the spark around Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr now comes from rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, not Green. The Post noted the timing: Green had recently talked on his podcast about how therapy can help players manage anger.
Curry defended his longtime teammate after the game and said the ejection lit a fire under the rest of the roster. The box score backs him up. Curry finished with 34 points, seven assists and six rebounds, per ESPN's recap. NBA.com reported that 18 of those points came in the third quarter after Green left. Charles Bassey scored a career-high 19 points with eight rebounds, filling much of the frontcourt minutes Green left behind.
What it means against Miami
Golden State hosts the Miami Heat on Thursday, Nov. 5, on NBA TV. The Warriors come in at 5-3 and riding a five-game winning streak after starting the season 0-3. That opening stretch included a 127-105 loss at the Lakers, a 111-108 home loss to Memphis and a 131-122 loss in Phoenix.
Since then, the Warriors have won 134-114 at Denver and 119-114 at Minnesota. They followed with home wins over the Lakers (112-95), the Clippers (124-112) and now the Suns. During the streak they have beaten both teams that handled them in the first week.
The margins are getting tighter, though. The last two road wins were by 20 and five points, and Monday's game was decided by three. The Warriors held on against Phoenix with their most experienced defender sitting in the locker room for most of the second half. If Green is cleared as expected, Thursday is his first chance to answer Perkins with his play. Lendeborg's rise and Bassey's big night also give Kerr more options than he had in the first week of the season. How Kerr splits the frontcourt minutes against Miami will show whether the criticism has any basis inside the building.
