No suspension for Warriors’ Green

Forward kicked Thunder center Adams in groin in Game 3 of Western Conference finals.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green will be fined but not suspended for kicking Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams in the groin during Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference finals.

But Green must be careful with his behavior for the rest of the postseason.

Green was given a flagrant one foul at the time of the incident Sunday.

Then the league decided Monday that no suspension was necessary, but the foul was upgraded to a flagrant two. Green also will be fined $25,000.

Based on the league’s point system for flagrant fouls, Green is one point from an automatic sus- pension. A flagrant one foul is worth one point and a flagrant two is worth two. He will have these points for as long as the Warriors remain in the postseason. He cannot afford even a hard foul.

Just hours before the ruling, Green said he feared a suspension.

“The way everybody is blowing it up makes me think I’m going to get suspended when I don’t think it should even be considered, because I know I wasn’t trying to kick him,” Green told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t pay it any attention (the criticism and media noise), honestly. It just is what it is for me. I wouldn’t be worried about anything if I wasn’t facing a suspension. Everything else is pretty irrelevant to me.”

Adams said he was not so sure Green’s kick was incidental. “It happened before, mate,” Adams said, likely referring to Green’s not-as-blatant knee to the groin in Game 2. “He’s pretty accurate, that guy.”

Game 4 is Tuesday in Oklahoma City with the Thunder leading the defending champions 2-1.

Former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy said on ESPN that he thought the decision was going to be a suspension of one or two games.

“If Steven Adams had kicked Steph Curry with that force, do we honestly believe that Steven Adams wouldn’t have been suspended?” he said.