The ever-outspoken Draymond Green picked up his first technical foul of the playoffs Saturday night as the Warriors took Game 3 102-91 over the Utah Jazz.
The foul came after Green became tangled up with Utah’s Rudy Gobert late in the first half, resulting in Green’s third personal foul of the game. On his way to the bench, Green taunted Jazz fans, holding up two fingers and then none, as an indication of the Warriors’ series lead heading into Game 3. Green then continued to chirp with referee Bennie Adams from the bench, which led to the technical.
While this type of behavior isn’t especially surprising from Green, Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams feels Green should stay away from technicals, telling Murph and Mac on Monday that he can help spark the team in other ways.
“Unfortunately, he’s a pretty easy target for the officials,” said Adams. “They don’t give him a lot of leeway because he’s generally pretty adamant of what he believes on the court. It can work in your favor but I think our thinking would be that we’d like him to stay away from that. It can spark our team, but he can spark our team in a lot of other ways too.”
Golden State faces Utah tonight as the Warriors aim for a four-game sweep. Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM, PST.
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Adams’ remarks on Green, skip to 1:33.