The No. 2 seed Houston Rockets knotted their Western Conference playoff series 1-1 with the No. 7 Golden State Warriors with a 109-94 blowout win on Wednesday night.
Houston guard Jalen Green led all scorers with 38 points while four other Rockets chipped in with double figures. Stephen Curry‘s relatively quiet 20-point outing led the Warriors, as co-star Jimmy Butler only played eight minutes before exiting with an injury stemming from a scary fall.
Draymond Green‘s point total (8) was nearly outdone by the number of scuffles he got into during the Game 2 loss. Green seemingly tussled with every player in red — including testy moments with Jalen Green, Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Fred VanVleet and Tari Eason.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) reacts during Game 2 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
After seeing the Warriors’ veteran go full villain mode, the Houston crowd inside Toyota Center only needed four words to express its feelings, and two of them were “Draymond Green.” Make sure you’re wearing headphones when you listen for the other two words.
Green could be seen egging on the fans and encouraging the chant, which only fueled him into more chaos. Though the Warriors trailed by double digits the entire second half, he continued to be a pest and somehow managed to avoid getting thrown out of the game.
“It’s not ideal when a crowd is chanting ‘(expletive) you Draymond,'” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the loss. “Draymond’s been around forever. He’s an instigator. He’s always going to be in the mix. Because of his career, his championships, his fire, he’s going to be a lightning rod and that’s all part of it.”
Kerr made it clear that he felt the Rockets fans crossed the line.
“I would prefer if fans could use a little more discretion and remember that the guy has kids,” Kerr said. “Maybe I’m old school. I’m all for the fans cheering for their team and if they want to yell at the opponents, great. I just think ‘(expletive) you’ is a little much.”
With the series tied at 1-1, Game 3 will take place on Saturday at Chase Center in San Francisco in front of a friendlier audience for Green and the Warriors.
