Warriors surprised, ‘livid’ over Draymond Green one game suspension

Nothing Golden State says will change the fact it will step on its home court tonight desperate for a win in a series where the Warriors trail 0-2, and need to find a way to stop the best offense in the NBA this season while missing their best defender.

But they are pissed about it.

Draymond Green was suspended for Game 3 after stepping on the chest of Domantas Sabonis — and the Warriors think it was unfair. This is what level-headed Steve Kerr said on the record:

“I was extremely surprised. And then, immediately into, ‘All right, what’s next? How do we win the game?'”

Off the record, people around the Warriors are pissed off about the decision, seeing it as a step too far. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski used the word “livid” to describe their reaction on “Get Up.”

“Consider the Warriors, in one word, livid. They certainly didn’t agree with the one-game suspension, I think they were surprised at it. No question about that — they certainly went through this in the Finals with Cleveland, losing Draymond Green for a game in 2016. But they’re gonna have to live with it. There’s really nowhere to go with an appeal in these situations … I think there were a lot of people who believed, perhaps, that the ruling on the court was going to stand”

ESPN’s Zach Lowe put it this way on his podcast: “The Warriors were shocked and caught off guard last night. There is some anger within the organization toward the league. There’s a sense in the organization that Sabonis is shoving people on offensive rebounds and playing with his elbows out and using the ball as a weapon on offense. ‘So of course someone eventually retaliated.’ You can give that any validity you want.”

The Warriors believed some of the other factors around Green’s action —