Draymond Green earned his second technical foul of the 2024-25 season after he hit Lu Dort on the head in the Golden State Warriors’ 127-116 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. Green swung at Dort midway through the fourth quarter at Paycom Center after the two had gotten tangled up on a play.
Draymond received a technical foul on this play pic.twitter.com/ck801hBs6i
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 11, 2024
It looked like Green was going to get away with the hit at first, as the referees called a foul on Dort. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault challenged the call and while the foul stood, the referees gave Green a technical for what they termed to be an “unsportsmanlike flail.”
This incident reminded some of Green’s hit on Jusuf Nurkic last season during a game between the Warriors and the Phoenix Suns. He was ejected back then and with that incident being on the heels of his putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, the NBA suspended him indefinitely.
Green’s hit on Nurkic was much more forceful and seemed more intentional than this one on Dort, though. I don’t expect the four-time All-Star to be suspended for this, despite his history of violent conduct, but I am surprised that the officials didn’t think that the hit was worthy of a flagrant foul 1 or even an ejection.
I would say Green needs to learn to better control himself, but this is who he is at this point. The 34-year-old is not going to change and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he hits someone else this season.
I mentioned earlier that this was Green’s second technical foul in this 2024-25 campaign, and his prediction that he’ll have less than 10 this season is now a step closer to being inaccurate. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t get eight more over the next 72 games.
As for this game, the Warriors seemed to be in total control when they went up by as many as 30 points in the third quarter. The Thunder then threatened to pull off a comeback for the ages as they cut the lead down to six at one stage in the fourth quarter, but the visitors held on and are now 8-2 on the season.
Green finished the game with eight points, four rebounds, and 11 assists. He went 3-5 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc.
Green and the Warriors will take on the Dallas Mavericks next at Chase Center on Tuesday at 10 PM ET in their first In-Season Tournament game of the campaign. That contest will also be Klay Thompson’s first against the Warriors since his departure in the offseason and it sure will be an emotional night.
Lu Dort Doesn’t Believe Draymond Green Intentionally Hit Him
Dort was asked about that incident with Green during his postgame press conference and the Canadian stated he didn’t think the hit was intentional.
“Just competing,” Dort said. “I don’t think he meant to hit my head. He threw his arm in the air trying to sell the foul. I did grab him. I think he was just trying to sell the foul… I don’t think he meant to do it on purpose.”
I’m pretty sure that would be Green’s explanation regarding the incident as well. He often defends himself by saying that he was trying to sell a call and accidentally hit the opponent in the process. Whatever the case may be, he at least didn’t cause any serious harm to the Canadian.
Dort had a solid showing against the Warriors, recording 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block. He went 6-11 from the field, 3-8 from three, and 1-1 from the line.
The Thunder dropped to 8-2 with this loss to the Warriors and they’ll take on the Los Angeles Clippers next at Paycom Center on Monday at 8 PM ET. They won’t have Chet Holmgren for that game and for many more after it too, as the big man suffered a right iliac hip fracture against the Warriors. Holmgren is out for at least 8-10 weeks and it will be interesting to see how they cope with his absence.
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