SAN FRANCISCO — After converting a hook shot over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green in the third quarter Saturday night, Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic hit the ground twice and fell. He mocked Green with a “too small” gesture.
Two minutes later, Green returned the favor.
With Nurkic between him and the rim, Green quickly backed Nurkic and lofted the ball over his head toward the basket. Immediately, Green hit the court, just as Nurkic had done.
“You can't be a puny defender if you're going to do that,” Green said of Nurkic. “You probably outweigh me by 70 pounds and get put in the hoop? You have to be more careful.”
The Warriors' 113-112 victory was the first time Golden State and Phoenix met since Dec. 12, when Green hit Nurkic in the head and earned an indefinite suspension that sidelined him for 12 games.
Part of the criteria for Green's reinstatement was to receive counseling and demonstrate to his team and the league that he had learned to manage his behavior.
Nurkic said after Saturday's game that Green clearly hadn't done it.
“It's sad. He didn't learn anything,” Nurkic said. “It's just a matter of time. He's going to hit someone else again. Take back everything I said. He doesn't deserve a chance.”
When informed of Nurkic's comments in his postgame press conference, Green paused before responding.
“I thought I was great tonight,” Green said with a smile. “He tried to get into my head and it didn't work. If he wants me to walk calmly, like him, I will never do that. Calm guys don't win.
“You can keep swinging on the same horse you rode on. You can walk out of here on that same horse. It's not working.”
Nurkic's comments rippled through the Warriors locker room, prompting laughter and shaking of heads. Stephen Curry called the comments “idiotic.”
For the Warriors, Green's antics and how he balanced them Saturday represented the strongest evidence yet that he has changed.
“That month off, that suspension was real,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “[Draymond] He knew his career was at stake or is at stake.
“He understands that he has to be the guy he's been the last nine years, not the guy he was last year. I see him doing that.”
Before Saturday's game, Kerr said he didn't want Green to be a “Goody-Two-shoes,” adding that if Green wasn't going to bring his fire, the Warriors might as well not play him. But Green's availability is his most important asset.
Against the Suns, he finished with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, 9 assists and 7 rebounds in one of his best two-way performances of the season.
“He's given us a boost every game he's come back in,” Curry said. “He connects, obviously, our defense, but you can talk about his defense in every game. What he did offensively tonight, especially in the fourth quarter… he gave us great energy in the sense of having that competitive spirit that you need to win “. a game like tonight, to face the moment.”
“Draymond knows how to walk the line he needs to,” he added. “This is probably the best game you've ever seen.”
Green and Nurkic exchanged words four minutes into the first quarter after a foul was called on Green.
A few seconds later, Nurkic tagged Green and was called for an offensive foul. Green responded by flexing, running down the court and making a gesture by tapping his head twice.
“They called him for a post foul and he started talking,” Green said of Nurkic. “I never back down from that. I like that kind of action.”
When asked about the gesture after Nurkic's offensive foul, Green stated: “I was calling him a fool when he was pointing at my head. I wasn't saying to keep your head. I was saying, you can't start talking and then charge at me. That It is not smart.”
With eight minutes left in the third quarter, Green received his first technical foul since his suspension for stomping in frustration after an uncalled foul.
But for Curry, it was the “too small” gesture that shifted the momentum in Green's favor.
“You can tell when you have someone on your mind when you go out of your way to celebrate,” Curry said of Nurkic. “Then Draymond attacks him again. The entire conversation, Draymond was in his head, plain and simple.”
