Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn
Jaylen Brown Calls Out Draymond Green’s Antics
With two games in the books, the 2022 NBA finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics is locked at one game apiece heading back to the East Coast.
Despite being relatively early in the series, the matchup between the two NBA heavyweights has been no stranger to drama, with forwards Jaylen Brown and Draymond Green at the heart of proceedings.
The pair came together in Game 2 in front of a raucous Chase Center crowd, providing the biggest talking point of the series thus far outside of the two blowouts.
On a three-point attempt, Green fouled Brown as both players fell to the floor. Whilst on the hardwood, Brown took exception to Green’s legs lying on him, and a heated exchange followed.
It was one of several occasions on the evening that Green tested the boundaries of the officials, which was surprising considering he was one technical away from an ejection during the Brown altercation in what felt like a must-win game for the Warriors.
Green continued to irritate the Celtics throughout the contest, so much so his antics were labelled as “dirty” by some NBA analysts and the whole of Celtics Twitter.
In his post-game press conference, Brown was asked about Green’s play in Game 2:
“On the situation, Draymond fouled me on a three and put his legs on my head or whatever. I tried to get up. But that’s what he’s going to do. He’s going to try to muck the game up, try to raise the level of intensity. We’ve got to raise ours. I feel like they got away with a lot tonight, but we’ve got to come ready to play, come ready to meet that physicality on both ends.”
Green’s approach seemed to be successful, as Brown stuttered to just 17 points, shoot 29% from the field and was a -10 in the losing effort.
When asked if Green’s extra circular activity would have any impact moving forward, Brown remained adamant that it would not shake his squad:
“Absolutely not. This is the NBA Finals. You come to play basketball. I know what Draymond is going to do. I know what he’s trying to do. They switched up the lineup. They tried to put him on me, be physical, muck the game up, pull me, grab me and overall raise the intensity. I feel like they got away with a lot of stuff tonight, but I’m looking forward to the challenge of the next game.”
Although Brown and company were robust in their dismissing of Green’s actions, it’s hard to deny they carried a hefty impact as the Warriors blew the game open after halftime to run away easy winners. The Celtics third quarter struggles continued, registering just 14 points after intermission, and haemorrhaged 35 points from the Dubs.
As we’ve become accustomed, Green’s box score looked largely pedestrian on the surface, putting up 9 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in 34 minutes, but his defensive activity and intensity kickstarted the Warriors ability to even the series.
Be that as it may, they still have their work cut out ahead of them, as the Celtics stole home court advantage heading back to Boston.
Now, looking forward, given the uproar following Game 2, it’s unlikely Green will be able to get away with quite as much on the road as the Celtics look to take a stranglehold of this series.
Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday June 8 inside TD Garden.
