OAKLAND, Calif. — It was groins that got the Warriors into the situation they’re looking at for Game 5. It will have to be guts that get them out of it.
The Xs and Os of the Warriors' next game against the Cavs here in these Finals just got a lot more difficult. NBA overseer of discipline Kiki Vandeweghe, after a full day of deliberation, opted to assess a Flagrant 1 foul to starting forward Draymond Green for the incident at the tail end of Friday’s Game 4, in which Green took a groin-swipe at Cleveland star LeBron James. That gave Green four flagrant points, earning him a suspension.
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The ramifications are obvious, even with Golden State up, 3-1, in the series. Green was outstanding in Game 2 back here at Oracle Arena, when he scored 28 points. In the Finals, he has averaged 14.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists and has — as always — been Golden State’s most important defender. He has been a plus-36 in his time on the floor. In fact, with a decent game on Monday, Green probably had the inside track on series MVP.
“He brings a lot to the table — defensive versatility, rebounding, ball handling and passing,” coach Steve Kerr said on Sunday. “So we’ve got to figure out a way to still be effective at both ends without him. So we do have, as I mentioned, a lot of players who have helped us all year long, big and small and in between. So probably a lot of different people will get a chance tomorrow.”
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That could mean more James Michael McAdoo, who made a brief appearance in the first half of Game 4. It could mean more of perimeter-oriented big man Marreese Speights or speed guard Leandro Barbosa. As Kerr mentioned, the Warriors have personnel to mask Green’s absence.
But more important will be some internal gumption shown by the Warriors’ established stars. Steph Curry had his best game of the series (38 points) in Game 4, and it will be up to him to keep that momentum going. What would be even more useful for the Warriors would be a breakout game for Klay Thompson, who is averaging 15.3 points in this series and has shot only 40.4 percent from the field.
Thompson can make Green’s absence a non-factor if he can heat up from the 3-point line. It was Thompson’s 41 points and 11 3-pointers that won the Warriors Game 6 of the West finals in Oklahoma City. The Cavs would have a hard time responding to that type of output.
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When meeting with the media on Sunday, the usually reticent Thompson threw a gauntlet down for James, portraying him as overly sensitive.
“I’m just kind of shocked some guys take it so personal,” Thompson said with a laugh. “It's a man's league and I've heard a lot of bad things on that court, but at the end of the day, it stays on the court. We're all competitive people. I mean, trash talk is a part of the game in basketball. … I don’t know how the man feels. But obviously people have feelings and people’s feelings get hurt even if they're called a bad word. I guess his feelings just got hurt. I mean, we’ve all been called plenty of bad words on the basketball court before. Some guys just react to it differently.”
Thompson was essentially calling James a whiner. Safe to say James will take notice and be revved up for Game 5, knowing he has a chance to pull his team from elimination and send the series back to Cleveland for a Game 6. Thompson will have to do the same — if you’re going to poke that bear, you better be able to tame him, too.
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It’s entirely possible that Kerr could figure out a way to make up for Green’s suspension, that he could fill the gap with just the right rotations and the right wrinkles to the team’s schemes on both ends of the floor. But the Warriors on the floor will have to show a certain level of toughness to handle the Cavs. They might be peeved by Green’s suspension, but they can do something about it on Monday.