More contact coming from Cavs Thompson, Warriors Green
OAKLAND, United States: Golden State’s Draymond Green plans more force and emotion in Sunday’s second game of the NBA Finals while Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson is ready to match him despite nearly getting suspended.
The instigators in a last-seconds altercation in Golden State’s 124114 opening victory promise the fireworks are far from over.
“We’ re trying to win a championship. Emotions should be involved,” Green said. “If your emotions aren’t involved you should go sit down somewhere and ponder what the hell life is for.”
Thompson was whistled for a flagrant foul and ejected with 2.6 seconds to play in overtime. When Green taunted him, Thompson shoved the ball in his face on the way to the locker rooms, teammates of both preventing a greater confrontation.
The league reviewed the incident and fined Thompson $ 25,000 for not quickly leaving the court but did not suspend him and reduced the level of the foul. “They made a good decision. I’m playing so I’m happy. I’m glad I’m able to play with my teammates and not watching on TV,” Thompson said.
“The NBA has got to do what they’ve got to do with fines. I did what I had to do in terms of talking to the NBA. They made the right call by letting me play.”
Thompson said he had no regrets about anything he did, adding, “I thought I walked off pretty quickly. I got an early shower.”
Thompson said physical play and intense emotions are inevitable from teams playing in a fourth consecutive final, an unprecedented feat in North American sport.
“When you’ve been to four straight finals you start out not liking each other. In any playoff series you get irritated. for us it’s in game one,” Thompson said.
“It’s competitive. Of course we’re going to get irritated with each other. But it’s not going off the court, at least not for me.
“If I see them in the summer and they say hi I’ll say hi. I won’t go out of my way to say hi.”