Late in the first half of the Warriors-Grizzlies first game, Memphis forward Brandon Clarke grabbed an offensive rebound while surrounded by smaller Warriors players. As he was going back up to try and score, Draymond Green swiped down in an attempt to steal the ball. Instead of hitting the ball, though, he clocked Clarke in the face and pulled his jersey to try and take an intentional foul. Clarke, being airborne, went down instead, and despite Green’s best efforts to do so, wasn’t caught.

Green was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul by the officiating crew led by veteran referee Kane Fitzgerald. The crowd was vicious, chanting for the crew to throw Green out of the game, and that’s exactly what happened.

Regardless of the opinions surrounding Draymond Green and his supposed “antics”, nobody else would have been thrown out for that foul, and that’s objectively bad officiating. Several NBA players, former and current, sounded off on social media to share their own opinions that Green didn’t deserve to get thrown out. It was a major momentum shift in the game, as the first half ended with Ja Morant throwing down a lob and then scoring on a fastbreak layup as time expired.

Well, it was supposed to shift the momentum, at least.

Instead, the Warriors started a shootout in the second half that they ultimately won thanks to stellar defensive efforts from Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Green was in the tunnel at the end of the game after getting ejected to the locker room to congratulate his teammates, and the Warriors took Game 1 despite playing against both a young, hungry Grizzlies squad, and the officials who were clearly rattled by the wishes of the home crowd.

So what does Dray’s Flagrant 2 mean? In the NBA Playoffs, a player has 4 “points” for flagrant fouls. A Flagrant 1 is 1 point, and a Flagrant 2 is 2 points. Once the total points accumulated equals 4, the offending player is suspended for 1 game. Because the NBA refused to rescind or downgrade the Flagrant 2, which the NBA’s own replay center said should have happened during the game, Draymond Green now has 2 of the 4 flagrant points required for a 1-game suspension. Brandon Clarke shared his opinion on the foul after the game, and it was pretty clear where he stood:

Whatever they’ve got in the water at the Grizzlies training facility, they should probably try to get it out.

We all know what this quote is. It’s a young team trying to look tough in the face of adversity. They’ve been doing it all season: The Grizzlies have a flair and attitude to them that can come across as either confident or cocky depending on how much you like them. In their defense, they’ve certainly earned the right to talk a little bit given their success. But at the same time, postseason basketball is a little different than the regular season or the play-in game.

Draymond, of course, had to fire back a little bit when Clarke’s quote went viral as well, ensuring the young guns knew that he heard them:

Green also went to his podcast almost immediately after the game was over, letting the fans know his thoughts on both the game and, more specifically, his ejection.

“At this point, I kinda expect things like that. I’ve been suspended from Game 5 of the NBA Finals” Green said on the episode. “Not surprising to me at all. Not one bit.”

Green said a little bit more on the subject, mostly about how he had a moment while they were reviewing the foul that he realized, because it was him, that there might be something up with how the call was going to end up, an entirely valid sentiment given his reputation as a player whether deserved or undeserved.

The Warriors play Game 2 tonight in Memphis with an officiating crew including the venerated and widely-disdained Scott Foster, a lead referee who’s known for not letting the crowd shake him up when he’s making decisions. With the home crowd expected to be rowdy and rockin’ again tonight, Foster’s presence should make for a much more evenly-called game, despite his historical track record with the Warriors. It will be interesting to see how the flow of the game changes with Green’s presence in the second half, as well as the energizing “against-all-odds” win the Warriors had in the first game.

(Photo credit: Associated Press)