Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green has been suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals set to be played at Oracle Arena on Monday night.
According to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears, Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green will be suspended by the NBA for Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night.
GSW's Green assessed Flagrant 1 triggering a suspension for Finals Gm 5. CLE's James assessed technical foul.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 12, 2016
Golden State holds a 3-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers and will not have their star forward available for this potential championship clinching game.
Green had been dealing with the threat of being suspended by the NBA since his antics during the tight Western Conference Finals versus the Oklahoma City Thunder that ultimately went to seven games.
Green’s suspension comes after the NBA assessed that the incident with Cavaliers point forward LeBron James late in Game 4 on Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland was enough to trigger Green’s ultimate suspension. Green was retroactively assessed a Flagrant 1 foul and James was hit with a technical foul of his own.
While Golden State has been nearly unbeatable at home this season, not having Green available in Game 5 might allow Cleveland to extend the series to six games with a rare victory at Oracle Arena on Monday night.
Not having Green limits what Golden State head coach Steve Kerr in lineup construction. Green’s unique ability to guard anyone 6’5″ or taller makes him one of the NBA’s most versatile defenders in the game. His great outside shot perfectly complements the Splash Brothers of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
In his Game 5 absence, expect wings Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala to take on much of Green’s workload. Kerr may have to ask more out of his traditional big men like Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, and even Anderson Varejao.
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