The Sacramento Kings have felt the rush of winning in the postseason during the 2023 NBA playoffs after going up 2-0 on the Golden State Warriors. But they have also now felt the full experience of playing Draymond Green in the playoffs. Game 2 featured a wild incident between Green and Domantas Sabonis that raised the intensity level of a series that was already packed with energy.
In Game 2, Sabonis fell down during a box out and his head made contact with Green's leg. Sabonis seemed to grab Green by the foot as he tried to head down the court and the Warriors forward stomped on the Kings center's chest, creating an uproar in the game and getting ejected from the game, which Sacramento won 114-106. He got into it with the crowd after the scuffle.
After the game, Sabonis — who received a technical foul on the play — was asked about the ordeal and said that he was trying to protect himself.
Domantas Sabonis was clear that he felt like he was just protecting himself on the ground. “There is no room for that in our game today.” pic.twitter.com/PK1XJFikHe
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) April 18, 2023
“I got hit earlier in the game in the jaw there. So, when I fell, I was kinda protecting myself and then obviously the incident happened. I feel like there’s no room for that in our game today,” the Kings' big man said.
When asked about Green's claim that he grabbed onto his leg, Sabonis skirted around it. “I feel like it's the playoffs. A lot of things happen. But at that point, I get pushed, I'm falling on the floor. I'm just trying to protect myself and then whatever happened, happened.” The Kings star said that he “should be good” moving forward after X-rays of his chest came back clean.
While Green's teammates rushed to his defense, so did Sabonis' fellow Kings. De'Aaron Fox said that his physicality is inspiring and that he hopes he isn't injured.
.@swipathefox on Sabonis' toughness following the Game 2 win 💪 pic.twitter.com/tDJRAZmddI
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 18, 2023
“He's down there. He led the league in rebounding, he scores a lot of points in the restricted area and he gets hit. He gets hit all game — he gets grabbed, he gets tackled,” the Kings' star guard said. “Obviously, at times he says something but most of the time, he doesn't complain. He gets up, he gets back on defense. We've talked about this before; that ignites a team. If your best player is down there getting beat up and at times he doesn't say anything, he gets back, then everybody else knows that if something happens to them — you may get fouled, then you need to get back on defense. It's big for us.”
With the Kings already having lit the beam twice, the Warriors will need to come back with an answer in Thursday's Game 3.
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