After Draymond Green was ejected for stomping on him in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s Game 2 in the first round of the playoffs, Kings big man Domantas Sabonis was asked about the incident.
“There’s no room for that in our game today,” he said.
Sabonis also said he was hit in the jaw earlier in the game. During the play with seven minutes left in regulation, Sabonis fell to the floor looking for a rebound and appeared to grab Green’s right ankle and the Warriors forward proceeded to stomp on Sabonis’s abdomen. After the game, Green said that he could only step on Sabonis because his leg was grabbed.
“I can only step so far,” he said.
Domantas Sabonis talks about the incident with Draymond Green: pic.twitter.com/WadlLmCbxY
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Draymond Green and Domantas Sabonis get twisted up.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 18, 2023
Green was issued a flagrant 2 (ejected) and Sabonis was issued a technical.
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As a result of the play, Sabonis was assessed a technical foul and Green was given a flagrant 2, resulting in his ejection. The Kings went on to win 114–106 to take a 2–0 series lead. When Sabonis was asked about Green’s explanation that he was grabbed, the forward didn’t give a direct response.
“I feel like it’s the playoffs,” he said. “A lot of things happen. I get pushed, I’m falling on the floor, I’m just trying to protect myself.”
But when asked if he looked at Green any different, Sabonis didn’t have anything but respect for the four-time NBA champion.
“He’s a great player,” Sabonis said. “He comes in, he competes. He’s the defending champion, we know it’s going to be a physical battle out there.”