The Golden State Warriors exacted their revenge on the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, rallying for a 121-112 victory and avenging the only loss they’ve suffered this season.
The game was a good one, but not as testy as pregame comments might have made it out to be. At least, it wasn’t until the final buzzer.
Warriors forward Draymond Green and Bucks guard O.J. Mayo got into a minor physical altercation that resulted in several other players, coaches and referees stepping in to assure nothing bigger happened.
“I told (Green) he’s a heck of a player, but at the end of the day, that’s my teammate,” Mayo told the media of the spat, via ESPN. “Just respect my teammate as well as we respect you guys, and some things you shouldn’t say in the media. Show your class, you know.
“You talk about one guy’s class, and then you go the same route. Not a class act.”
Mayo of course is referring to comments made earlier in the week by Green to Bay Area radio station KNBR about Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams, who threw down an emphatic dunk as time expired to dot the exclamation point on last week’s win that snapped Golden State’s 24-game winning streak to open the season.
“Dude, you lost your (starting) spot,” Green said at the time. “So, it’s not quite common that you should be looking toward someone’s bench yelling. You’ve got some ground to make up.'”
It appeared that during the conversation between Green and Mayo, though, the latter ended the quick conversation by tapping the back of Green’s head in an awkward embrace failure. Apparently that’s what Green took exception to.
“I’m not really into talking about what guys say. What you think he said he may not have said or he may have said,” Green told the media, via ESPN. “Just, ain’t no man going to touch my head. I’m a grown man. That’s all I’ve got for you.”
Green was one of two Warriors players to fall just short of a triple-double with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Teammate Stephen Curry added 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in the win, while Carter-Williams scored a team-high 24 points for Milwaukee.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
