It didn't take long for the rematch between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves to become a heated affair. Literally just over a minute of game time has passed, and there Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels were, getting into a fiery altercation that proceeded to spark an outburst from Draymond Green, who decided that it was a good move in the heat of the moment to put Rudy Gobert in a chokehold.

As a result of all the hullabaloo, Thompson, Green, and McDaniels all found themselves ejected… and that was with the score still knotted up at 0-0. And in doing so, the trio of ejected players in the fervid clash between the Warriors and Timberwolves made history. According to OptaSTATS, these ejections mark the first time since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976 where three starters were ejected before either team had scored a point.

This drastically changes the calculus of the NBA In-Season Tournament battle between the Warriors and Timberwolves. The Warriors were already shorthanded entering the game, as they will be without Stephen Curry for an undisclosed period of time after he reportedly suffered a knee sprain. That would have put the onus to carry the scoring load on Klay Thompson. That, of course, cannot happen now that Thompson headed for an early exit.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves will lose one of the spines of their league-leading defense in Jaden McDaniels, which should free up, in theory, more space for the likes of Andrew Wiggins and Chris Paul to work on the perimeter.

The repercussions for Draymond Green will be interesting. After all, Green's reputation when it comes to dirty plays such as the one he pulled off against Rudy Gobert wasn't already the best to begin with, and now, it may be likely for the league to put the hammer down on the Warriors forward, beginning with a suspension.

At the time of writing, however, despite being as depleted as they are, the Warriors have taken a crucial lead against the Timberwolves in the third quarter, with Brandin Podziemski putting in the best performance of his brief NBA career to this point.