Warriors’ Draymond Green suspended for Game 5

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. Stephen Curry was the NBA’s most valuable player this season, but Draymond Green may have been Golden State’s most useful player. And the Warriors won’t have him as they attempt to end the NBA Finals on June 13 in Game 5, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Green was suspended for one game by the league when it ruled Sunday that he made “unnecessary contact with a retaliatory swipe” at LeBron James’s groin in Game 4 after James taunted Green by trying to step over him.

Green already had three “flagrant foul points,” including two when he was dinged for another groin-related incident with Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams last round, and his latest offense automatically triggered a suspension.

Green is as essential to the Warriors as any player, especially against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are down 3-1 in the series.

The Warriors have outscored the Cavs by 13.6 points per 100 possessions with Green, but they have been outscored by 9.6 points when Green was on the bench.

That has been the case all season: Golden State was 25.9 points better with Green on the court—and the Warriors lost the only game he didn’t play.