The Golden State Warriors, it turns out, had good reason to be worried.
The defending champs will attempt to close out the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night without All-Star forward Draymond Green, who (somewhat shockingly) has been suspended, it was announced Sunday by the NBA.
Warriors’ Draymond Green suspended for Game 5 after NBA upgrades his Game 4 foul to Flagrant 1 pic.twitter.com/2rYS33V4ic
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) June 12, 2016
The League gave Green a Flagrant Foul 1 following a review of his controversial swipe at LeBron James during their Game 4 scuffle.
The Dubs hold a commanding 3-1 series lead.
From the press release:
In accordance with NBA rules, Green will serve a one-game suspension without pay for accruing his fourth Flagrant Foul point of the 2016 postseason. He will serve his suspension Monday, June 13 during Game 5 of The Finals at Oracle Arena.
The incident occurred when Green made unnecessary contact with a retaliatory swipe of his hand to the groin of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James with 2:48 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 108-97 win in Game 4 of The Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.
“The cumulative points system is designed to deter flagrant fouls in our game” said Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. “While Draymond Green’s actions in Game 4 do not merit a suspension as a standalone act, the number of flagrant points he has earned triggers a suspension for Game 5.” […] James has been assessed a technical foul upon league office review for his role in the altercation, which included a physical taunt.
