It sure looked like Tristan Thompson attempted to enact revenge on Draymond Green in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
Remember, Green was suspended for Game 5 of the Finals last year, after he delivered a small shot to LeBron James’ groin. The suspension was clearly based on reputation, and unwarranted, but that’s neither here nor there.
Green has clearly learned from it and even as physical as he is, he’s played a very clean game pretty much this entire season. And the Warriors have reaped the benefits from his lockdown interior defense, which is one of the reasons he’s one of the five best defenders in the NBA, yet doesn’t receive the accolades he should.
Anyway, one particular play involving Thompson and Green is drawing a lot of scrutiny, as it looked like the Cavs’ big man got away with a cheap shot on the Warriors’ center. It happened midway through the third quarter, when Green put the ball on the floor near the paint, and then attempted to get Thompson in the air with a shot fake. Thompson didn’t fall for it, so Green then went up for a shot, and appeared to draw contact from his opponent. Green then came back down with the ball, and stepped into Thompson on the way down. However, it sure looked like Thompson moved his knee upward to strike Green right in the groin, in an attempt to deliver some “payback” for what Green did to James last year.
You be the judge.
https://twitter.com/tbcrabb/status/872648369801482240
The contact did indeed look intentional. And it’s not crazy to believe that Thompson did it out of frustration — as he was a complete non-factor in the game. He failed to score a point and hauled in only three rebounds, which is pretty terrible for a big man, and proves that the Kardashian Curse is very real.
The Warriors, however, hurt the Cavs where it mattered most — on the scoreboard, finishing the game on a 11-0 run — and this series is all but over.
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