Draymond Green Ejected After Altercation With Donovan Mitchell
The Golden State Warriors will always be one of the Cleveland Cavaliers' rivals because of their four consecutive NBA Finals against each other in the late 2010s.
Another chapter of this rivalry was written on Saturday night, as the two teams met for the final time this regular season. This time, there was a disagreement between Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell and Golden State's Draymond Green.
Nov 11, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots a layup against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
© Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
It started when the Cavaliers were on offense. Green shoved Mitchell out of bounds as Caris LeVert went up for a shot. The officials did not see this or decided not to call it and let the game play on.
Green then got the ball on the Warriors' next possession. Mitchell immediately went at Green and gave him a shove in return while pointing to the other end of the floor, alluding to what had happened on the previous possession.
This exchange caused coaches from both teams to enter the floor to keep the two separated.
The officials reviewed the play to see if Mitchell's push met the criteria for a flagrant foul. It's a good thing they did, because their ruling was that Mitchell's play was a common foul, and Green initiated the scuffle on the other end of the floor.
Because of this, the Warriors forward was ejected because this ruling was his second technical foul. He committed another one earlier in the game when he yelled at an official.
No other players were disciplined for the Mitchell-Green interaction.
Green has been a nemesis of Cleveland players and fans dating back to the four consecutive Finals when these two teams met each other.
All of this should bring Cavs fans back to the 2016 Finals when Green was suspended one game for a scuffle with LeBron James, which ignited Cleveland's 3-1 comeback.
