What does Draymond Green’s suspension mean?

Draymond Green will not play in Game 5 as the Warriors try to clinch their second consecutive title. What does it mean for them?

Up 3-1 in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors will be without All-Star power forward Draymond Green.

Upon review, the league determined that his actions in Game 4 warranted a flagrant foul. In that Warriors’ win, Green and LeBron James got tangle up near mid court. Green fell and James tried to step over him as the Golden State star tried to stand up. Green took exception to it and flailed his arm on the way up, catching James in the groin area before flailing his arm again and catching him in the back.

The two forwards exchanged words as the play continued. After jawing at each other for a few seconds, they both crashed the glass, fighting for the missed shot. The two had their arms wrapped around each other and continued to get in each other’s face.

For Green, the intensity and the trash talking is nothing new. He is a competitor that backs down from no one. For James, however, this all seemed a bit uncharacteristic. He’s generally mild-mannered and, even, diplomatic. He doesn’t antagonize players. When Lance Stephenson was trying to get under his skin and was blowing in his year, James just responded with basketball and nothing else.

James was trying to bait Green, who has been dominant this series, into doing something that would get him in trouble. And it worked. Green picked up his fourth flagrant foul point of the postseason and must now watch his teammates try to clinch their second consecutive title. Following the game, James seemed to be lobbying to the league to review the play in hopes of some punishment.

The biggest takeaway of this incident is that despite the fact that Stephen Curry is the best basketball player in the world, LeBron James controls it.

So the Warriors have to find a way to win without their heartbeat, without the engine that keeps them going. Green isn’t replaceable by any means, but Steve Kerr has a few options to choose from. The obvious one is starting Andre Iguodala and sliding Harrison Barnes to the four spot. He could also opt to keep Iguodala on the bench and start Brandon Rush, who hasn’t seen the court in a long time, but he filled in nicely earlier in the year for Barnes.

The Warriors will definitely need Curry and Klay Thompson to step up in this one. Perhaps Kerr chooses to start Shaun Livingston, moving Curry and Thompson to the shooting guard and small forward positions respectively. This would put a ball handler on the floor and allow the Splash Brothers to run off screens, though it might be better for Curry to stay on ball.

Replicating his heart and effort is close to impossible, but perhaps it will arise organically. It was clear that James was trying to get Green in trouble and the Warriors haven’t been afraid to express their disappointment with the decision. Thompson mocked James, saying that perhaps “his feelings just got hurt.” The Warriors will definitely be fired up even more with the championship on the line.

It’s very possible that this series is going back to Cleveland. With Green in the lineup, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Golden State would have lost at home with so much at stake. But winning without the player that makes your team go is extremely difficult, especially when that player has been a part of every single victory in your record-setting, historic season.

It’s a big blow to the Warriors, but they could have a chance to clinch on the road exactly one year after they celebrated in Cleveland. After such a slow start to the series, with unexciting blowouts, these NBA Finals just got much more interesting. These two teams now have a dislike for each other and that always produces something fun to watch.

Curry can boost his legacy with a victory while James has hurt himself. The baiting and the apparent whining to the league will surely has caused many around the league to lose some respect for him. Draymond Green’s suspension means that the Warriors are going to have one more obstacle in their quest to be NBA champions once again.

The Warriors will need to play like crazy to make up for what their All-NBA player brings. And knowing them, they probably can do it. They embrace adversity. It’s what drives them.

Game 5 perhaps just more interesting than it would have been with Green for so many reasons.