The Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings on Thursday and cut the series deficit for the opening round of the playoffs to 2-1.
Draymond Green was suspended for the game, however, for stomping on Sacramento big man Domantas Sabonis during Game 2. According to the league, Green was suspended partially because of his previous transgressions on the court.
So with Green ineligible to play for Game 3, Golden State’s Jordan Poole was given a spot in the starting lineup. Within just a couple of minutes of tipoff, before the Kings had even scored yet, Poole made a defensive stop to force a lost ball turnover on Sabonis.
The possession was pretty innocuous in the scheme of things, though it did set the tone for a pretty convincing Golden State victory.
But the deeper context made this photo particularly wild:
Lol what a picture. pic.twitter.com/W0VQilcqhC
— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) April 21, 2023
The photo, captured by USA TODAY’s Cary Edmondson, immediately became my favorite of the NBA postseason thus far.
Even though it was Green who was suspended, the Warriors also reportedly believed that Sabonis was playing dirty throughout the series thus far.
In fact, Green said he requested an X-ray after the big man grabbed his ankle on the same possession as the stomp. Here is from ESPN’s Zach Lowe (via The Lowe Post):
“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.”
So right after learning the people within Golden State may believe that Sabonis uses the ball and his elbow as weapons, this photo perfectly captures the same thing happening to him here.
Poole hit Sabonis in the jaw! 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/KpmKQMw2ti
— Craig Smith (@CSmithBball) April 21, 2023
Later in the game, it appeared Poole elbowed Sabonis in the jaw during a rebound attempt.
It certainly seems like a rivalry is brewing between these two teams, and it’s interesting to see Poole specifically getting physical with Sabonis given the Golden State guard has his own history with Green.
With all of that in mind, this was a marvelous image from Edmondson.
