Green move ‘ was just basketball,’ Conley says
MEMPHIS — In the days following Mike Conley’s Game 2 brush with the Warriors’ Draymond Green, the Grizzlies’ point guard has gone from “no comment” to “it is what it is” to forming an opinion.
“At the end of the day, I think Draymond Green is a phenomenal player,” Conley said before Friday’s practice. “He’s a competitor. In the heat of the game, things happen. Guys get hit. Guys bring a lot of passion to the game. I have no opinion other than that. I think it was just basketball.”
Conley was driving through the lane when he got tied up by Green and Klay Thompson midway through the second quarter. He recovered the ball with 4: 58 remaining and called a timeout while lying on his back with the ball near his chin. Green reached to try to grab the ball and bumped Conley in a mask designed to protect surgically repaired facial fractures.
Officials reviewed the play as a potential “hostile act” but didn’t call a foul. That, however, hasn’t changed the opinion of the Grizzlies’ fans. They’ve taken to Twitter to express their anger with Green.
“I don’t expect their fans to be happy with me,” Green said. “Their fans don’t jack me up. Their fans weren’t going to be happy with me, regardless. They’re not our fans. If they were happy with me, they’ve got another whole problem.”
Said Conley: “I’ve heard some fan reviews on it, so I knew they’re pretty upset.”
Tuesday was the first game for Conley since he was inadvertently hit by C. J. McCollum’s elbow April 25. Conley had surgery to insert restructuring plates in his face April 27 and was back on the court for Game 2 against the Warriors.
He had 22 points ( on 8- for- 12 shooting), three assists and only one turnover in 27 minutes. In the fourth quarter, his left calf started to cramp — something he hopes won’t happen again after three days between games.
“This has been huge for me, just having some time to concentrate on myself, my body, my eating habits and all of the things you don’t really get to do when there is only one day in between games,” he said. “My body needed to recover from the game itself. That takes a day to decompress.”
Conley said he’s starting to regain feeling in his face, but he’s still numb in his upper left teeth and nose. It’s gotta be the shoes: Memphis sixth man Vince Carter seemed humbled and a little embarrassed when informed that Stephen Curry’s first pair of signature shoes as a child were Carter’s Nike Shox. Now 38, Carter played with Curry’s father, Dell, from 1999 through 2002 in Toronto.
“That was the one,” the Warriors’ point guard said. “It’s crazy that I’m now playing against him.” Playing smallball: Using a small lineup with Green at center in Game 2, the Warriors trimmed a 16- point deficit to nine during an 11: 42 stretch that spanned the third and fourth quarters. Trailing by 10, the Warriors went small again for the game’s final 2: 11 and twice cut the margin to seven in the closing minute.
Memphis head coach Dave Joerger said his team is prepared for the Warriors to use the smaller lineup even more in Saturday’s Game 3, but there’s little the Grizzlies can do about it.
“We’re not real flexible with our roster, but I think those are some of our strengths: We know who we are, and we know what we do,” he said.