Golden State cruises to win
James, Green collide, flagrant foul assessed
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif.
Draymond Green and LeBron James went at it again in the first half of Golden State’s 126-91 victory over Cleveland on Monday.
Their latest confrontation came with 6:55 left in the first half. Golden State led 52-35 when James collided with Green near midcourt, resulting in a flagrant 1 foul on Green. Green’s arm extended across the upper body of James, who went down hard and lay on the court.
“I fouled him to stop the break and he went down, and the aftermath, I told [Cleveland’s Richard Jefferson] to get out of my face, got a technical,” Green explained.
Green reacted by appearing to mock James for flopping.
“Just in the heat of the moment in the game, having some fun, nothing major,” Green said
Yet he wasn’t the only one to sense some embellishment from James.
“Flagrant 1 on Draymond?? What has happened to my league??” Reggie Miller posted on Twitter.
“I think his shoulder hit me in the face, but it happened so fast I didn’t even know who it was,” James said. “I’m all right. I’m a football player.”
Stephen Curry and the Warriors certainly looked ready to trade some more blows with Cavaliers come June.
The two-time reigning MVP hit five 3-pointers and had 20 points while matching his season best with 11 assists.
Klay Thompson scored 26 points with five 3s, and Green produced his third triple-double of the season with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. He also equaled his career best with five blocks — and had another dustup with King James in the process.
James had 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting and eight rebounds, and he and Green became the talk once more as their relationship turned even more testy.
Kevin Durant added 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the Warriors in a much-hyped matchup merely weeks after Golden State lost 109-108 in Cleveland on Christmas.
Curry called the confrontation “two strong forces coming together” and added that “I don’t read much into that at all.”
After a lengthy replay review, a double technical was called on Green and Jefferson.
“Oh, that was nothing,” Durant said. “Flagrant foul, they shot their free throws, we moved on. Nothing serious.”
But James and Green have a history — and Durant wasn’t there for it, given this is his first season with Golden State after coming from Oklahoma City.
Green was suspended for Game 5 of last season’s NBA Finals after swiping at James’ groin the previous game. The Cavs rallied from 3-1 down to win the title.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had yet to see the replay from Monday’s run-in.
“Was that an incident? You tell me,” Kerr cracked.
He added that from his view, it looked like “a normal foul where a guy’s in transition and you want to foul him and take away the fast break. Obviously he went down hard and sold it pretty well.
“When I look at the replay I might think, ‘Oh yeah, that was definitely a flagrant.’ But I haven’t seen it, so it’s tough to assess.”