Warriors 115, Rockets 109: Draymond Green considered focus on officiating ’embarrassing’

OAKLAND – In normal circumstances, Draymond Green has often complained about the officials. He will tell them about it directly to their face. He will vent about it to his teammates and coaches. He will occasionally reiterate those gripes to the media.

Following the Warriors’ 115-109 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday at Oracle Arena, Green became frustrated with something else. Instead of becoming upset with the referees, Green became frustrated with all the negative attention surrounding the officiating.

“It’s kind of disheartening for a game that I love, since I was a child, to see the talk over the last two days was nothing about basketball and everything about foul calls. Is that what this game is coming to? The talk is going to be about foul calls?”

Yes, there was plenty of talk about foul calls during and after the Warriors’ Game 1 win over Houston.

The Rockets griped that officials failed to call fouls on the Warriors’ closeouts on James Harden, who accused the Warriors of invading his landing area. The Warriors complained that officials overlooked Harden often flailing his legs out to reduce his landing area after a shot. Both teams seemingly argued after every whistle. Houston became so upset that it leaked details of its own audit on the number of calls officials apparently missed both in Game 1 and in the Warriors’ seven-game series win in last year’s Western Conference Finals.

“It’s kind of embarrassing for the game of basketball, how much it’s been talked about, fouls and officiating,” Green said. “What about beating your man? What about stopping your man? Nobody talked anything about schemes the last couple days. All about foul calls.”

So to ensure that Game 2 would not be about foul calls, the Warriors sought some self reflection.

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Instead of seeking out social media posts filled with commentary and memes about the officiating, Andre Iguodala sought out inspirational quotes. He came across a Michael Jordan quote that said, “leave the refs alone. Shut up and play.” Iguodala, who normally offers wisdom as an accomplished veteran, declined to cite that quote to the team. There was no need. After collecting 61 technicals this season, the Warriors reached the same conclusion.

“The one thing we can control is our focus on what matters in terms of winning a basketball game,” Stephen Curry said. “That’s outplaying them. We came in with the right composure understanding there would be calls that wouldn’t go our way. You just deal with it and keep playing.”

Hence, the Warriors fueled their energy toward their play instead of complaining to the officials. That energy made a significant difference in multiple categories.

After depending on Kevin Durant’s scoring brilliance in the past five games, the Warriors featured balanced production among Durant (29 points), Klay Thompson (21), Curry (20), Iguodala (15 points, five rebounds, four assists) and Green (15 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists). After committing 20 turnovers in Game 1, the Warriors reduced that number to 10.

Instead of worrying if their aggressiveness would lead to foul trouble, the Warriors kept that edge to win on the offensive glass (18-10). Instead of griping about collecting five fouls for the third time out of eight playoff games, Curry focused on playing through his dislocated left middle finger.

“I didn’t even notice the officiating,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I don’t think anybody did. I think that’s the best compliment you can give them. They did a great job. This game was just about basketball.”

It initially appeared the game would not be about basketball. One of the officials was Scott Foster, whom Harden had criticized earlier in the season. Warriors fans booed Harden loudly during lineup introductions and whenever he touched the ball. On the Rockets’ first three possessions, officials called Clint Capela for traveling, Harden for an offensive foul and PJ Tucker with another foul. It was as if the Rockets’ public gripes both irritated the referees and the Warriors.

Yet, the Warriors quickly showed they cared more about playing against the Rockets than engaging with them. After Green inadvertently swiped Harden’s eyes while chasing the rebound, the Rockets guard stayed on the ground as the Warriors cashed in transition on Durant 3. Once Harden stood up, he covered his eyes with a towel. Before leaving the court with 6:27 left in the first quarter, Green hugged Harden and wished him. The Rockets’ medical staff then diagnosed Harden with a laceration on his left eyelid that he said blurred his vision for the rest of the night.

“I made a mistake and hit him in his eye,” Green said. “It’s not about hurting anybody out here. So many times people forget, when a guy have an injury,
you live with that every day every second of every day. It’s not just about this game. If his eye is messed up, he got to live that every day. Just want to check on the guy. At the end of the day it’s bigger than basketball when it come to injuries.”

It is also bigger than basketball when it comes to officiating. So when the Warriors received calls they did not like, they did not protest. They shut up and dribbled.

When Curry was called for a foul on Harden with 1:10 left in the second quarter, he clapped his hands in frustration. Then, Curry walked toward the basket instead of official Ed Malloy. When Green was called a foul on Harden after despite having his hands up on a pump fake with 34.5 seconds remaining, Green shook his head before walking to the sideline instead of arguing with Malloy. To open the third quarter, Foster called a foul on Durant after he blocked Rockets center Clint Capela at the rim. When he saw the replay show he had both hands up, Durant vented to Kerr instead of to Foster. Kerr spoke to Foster in a calm manner.

“Both teams and both coaches just let the refs do their job I think all night. There wasn’t no talks about it,” Durant said. “Out on the court, the chatter wasn’t about anything outside of just the game, what was happening between the players. I think the refs did an amazing job tonight, players did a great job, and the coaches not letting that affect them.”

When Curry collected his fourth foul with 6:43 remaining in the third quarter, he refused to lose his cool. Nearly 48 seconds later, Green was called for a foul for picking up Harden at halfcourt. He did not argue that call. Neither did Looney when he was called for a foul after Rockets guard Chris Paul ran into his hip. But as Looney joked afterwards, “I know how it goes. As a young player in the league, I’m going to get foul calls on me.”

“We just said we’re not going to focus on the referees,” Looney said. “We felt every game you can complain about the refs and find some calls. But we knew we can play better. I feel like we wont the game fair and square without the refs help. We know we can play better and that we’re the better team.”

The Warriors are also the better spot. When Durant was called for a foul on Harden’s 3 with 1.3 seconds left in the third quarter, Paul flexed his right bicep. Following Harden’s last foul shot, Green and Nene were called for double technicals after the two got tangled. Though Green attempted to speak with Malloy afterwards, DeMarcus Cousins intervened.

“You could see our body language, whether it was smiles on our faces. looking together and clapping,” Curry said. “We’re just staying focused on what you can control. That’s playing basketball.”

And by simply playing basketball, the Warriors proved one thing. They beat the Rockets because of their superior talent and effort. They did not beat the Rockets because of favorable calls.

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