As much as a headache as Golden State's Draymond Green has been over the years (and he might have personally cost that record 73-win team a title in the in the 2016 NBA Finals vs. Cleveland with his one-game suspension), the Warriors and specifically superstar Stephen Curry have put up with the All-Star's antics because the Warriors are that much better with him. However, Green's future with the franchise is now in some doubt after he was suspended indefinitely by the NBA this week. The Warriors take the court for the without him Thursday night at the Clippers as 5.5-point underdogs on the SportsLine consensus.
In Tuesday's 119-116 loss in Phoenix, Green struck Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face in the third quarter and was ejected. Green said it was an accident and that he was simply trying to sell a possible foul to the officials, but with his track record the league almost had no choice but to indefinitely suspend him. The incident came less than a month after he was suspended for five games for putting Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a headlock during a Nov. 14 game. Green, who already has been ejected from three games this year, will be required to meet "certain league and team conditions" before he returns to play.
The Warriors have enabled Green for years. He sucker-punched former teammate Jordan Poole during training camp last year but didn't miss any regular-season action because of the incident. The team signed Green to a $100 million extension this offseason. Now he's borderline untradable despite being one of the NBA's best defenders -- he's a former Defensive Player of the Year and eight-time All-Defensive team selection.
I'm actually a touch surprised no sportsbook has listed an over/under on games Green might miss; the general consensus is at least 10.
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, the Warriors are 25-28 without Green (3-5 this season) compared to 22-24 without Curry. It is very fair to say that Green has been the second-most important player on the team during this dynastic run behind Curry.
The dynasty looked over even before the suspension. Golden State is 10-13 and doesn't hold a Western Conference play-in spot as things stand. DraftKings now give the Warriors +100 odds to make the playoffs and -125 to miss – note that making the playoffs counts as being in the final eight after the play-in tournament. To compete in the play-in, the Warriors are actually -125 favorites in the West, which is the book telling you it fully expects Golden State to finish in the 7-10 range. There's no updated season win total because of Green's uncertain return.
Golden State might catch a break Thursday in that the red-hot Clippers, winners of five straight, could be without All-Star forward Paul George. He's questionable with a groin injury suffered in Tuesday's 119-99 blowout of Sacramento. The injury limited George to only 16 minutes. He was a shootaround this morning and that generally bodes well for PG13 (or anyone) to play but not always -- LeBron James was at shootaround Wednesday morning for the Lakers but didn't play in San Antonio. George hasn't missed a game this season.
The teams have split two meetings thus far in 2023-24, each winning at home. The Warriors have lost their past four at the Clippers.
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