The Cleveland Cavaliers had an impressive win against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, but it was at least somewhat overshadowed by Draymond Green’s controversial ejection following an altercation with Donovan Mitchell.
The league hasn’t commented on whether the technical foul assessed to Green — his second of the game — was the correct call, but some folks have blasted the Warriors forward for bringing the ejection upon himself. He appears to be unamused by the amount of backlash he has gotten, as evidenced by his Instagram story.
Green shoving Mitchell in the back during a Cavs offensive possession seemingly bothered the guard, who retaliated by instigating a heated exchange with Green just beyond midcourt. After the referees reviewed the incident, they decided to call a technical foul on the four-time champion.
Since that was Green’s second tech of the evening, the call warranted an automatic ejection. As a result, he had to leave the game with over six minutes remaining in the third quarter and Cleveland leading 76-66.
It might have been a smart move by Mitchell to get Golden State’s defensive leader off the court. However, the Cavs star may have stressed out his own mother in the process, as she called him five times after the contest.
Whether Green’s absence influenced the outcome of the game is up for debate. The Warriors had their chances to take Saturday’s game, but they allowed the Cavs to build a lead as big as 16 points in the fourth quarter.
With the win, Cleveland has now swept its regular season series with Golden State. The Cavs also defeated the Warriors about a week earlier, thanks to Mitchell’s heroics. The four-time All-Star recorded 31 points and seven assists in that contest. On Saturday, he put up just 21 points, but five other Cavs players scored in double digits, including Caris LeVert, who had a team-high 22 points.
Cleveland will next face the Sacramento Kings on Monday before matching up against the Portland Trail Blazers to cap off a four-game road trip.
