Steve Kerr was upset with Marcus Smart. So were Golden State Warriors fans. But Draymond Green?
He was not.
Although tempers flared during Wednesday night’s game after Smart dove for a loose ball and inadvertently injured Warriors guard Steph Curry, Green was among those on Golden State’s side who didn’t take major issue with the Boston Celtics guard’s hustle play.
“I can’t call that a dirty play,” Green told reporters in a postgame news conference. “The ball is on the floor. At every level of basketball, we’re taught to dive on the floor and go after the ball. That’s what Marcus did. So I can’t call that a dirty play.
“I will say that it was probably an unnecessary dive. … So, if anything, you could say that was unnecessary, but I can’t call that a dirty play.”
Green’s take was far different than his head coach’s. Kerr confronted Smart about the play during the game, and afterward criticized the play as “dangerous.”
Smart and Green seemed to take similarly objective positions. On Boston’s side, Smart didn’t take issue with Kerr calling him out, crediting the coach for backing up his player while expressing concern for Curry, who left the game and did not return.
Once the dust settled, the Celtics emerged with a 110-88 victory that moved them into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time this season, which means they would have home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs if the postseason began today.
