Golden State Warriors superstar Klay Thompson was ejected after his altercation with Jaden McDaniels following a missed jumper from Anthony Edwards. What started as an argument turned into a full-blown melee until the referees controlled the situation.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr however disagrees with the decision of ejecting Klay. He also justified Draymond Green’s actions on Rudy Gobert who was also involved in another physical battle.
It all started when Edwards missed a jumper and McDaniels tried to get hold of the rebound. However, Thompson did put his hand on the point guard to stop him from getting the ball. So this started the argument as McDaniels didn’t like the way Thompson reacted so he pulled his hands. The two ended up grabbing and holding each other starting a full-blown melee.
After the game, Kerr was not okay with the decision as he explained the situation to Kendra Andrews. “There is no way Klay should have been ejected. That’s ridiculous … as far as the Draymond part, Rudy had his hands on Klay’s neck. That’s why Draymond went after Rudy.”
When the two players got into a tangle and were about to raise their hands, the others came quickly to separate the two. Rudy Gobert, who was trying to stop the fight shielded McDaniels and held Thompson. The Warriors superstar pushed Gobert back as he was holding him by the neck and shoulder.
This agitated Draymond Green as he ran straight to Gobert and got him in a headlock,. He then dragged the Timberwolves center towards the Warriors’ corner as Kerr and the other support staff pleaded with Green to leave the Frenchman.
Kerr feels that the action was started by Gobert and Green gave a reaction as he feels that it was an understatement. Gobert was in a position of bother during the headlock as his eyes were wide and he struggled to breathe. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns couldn’t do anything to Dray which could have stoped his actions.
Despite all of this the Warriors almost won the NBA In-season Tournament against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They didn’t have Stephen Curry available as he was dealing with right knee soreness. However, they also lost Klay Thompson and Draymond Green for their on-court actions.
It was Chris Paul who led the team from the front scoring 15 points, four assists and five rebounds while Dario Saric registered 21 points. But the star was rookie Brandin Podziemski who scored 23 points with seven rebounds and five assists. His late shots were crucial for the Warriors as they gave a tough fight to the Timberwolves even without their stars.
Eventually, the Timberwolves lost the match 104-101 as Karl-Anthony Towns blew off with a sensational 33 points, 11 rebounds and two assists while Edwards also registered 20 points.
