warriors' green suspended for game 5

through all of the criticism and accusations of dirty play, draymond green vowed to keep pushing as hard as he possibly could to help deliver another championship to golden state.

that win-at-all-costs mentality has suddenly opened the door for lebron james and the cleveland cavaliers to get back into the nba finals, and added an extra edge to a burgeoning rivalry.

green was suspended for game 5 on monday night after the league assessed a flagrant 1 foul for striking james in the groin during a scuffle in the closing minutes of the warrior's game 4 victory friday night.

james and green got tangled up on the play, and james stepped over green as the two got up - a move widely viewed as a show of disrespect in league circles. green then swiped at james' groin in retaliation and threw another jab at the four-time mvp that did not connect.

green was given a flagrant 2 foul and fined $25,000 for kicking oklahoma city's steven adams in the groin during the western conference finals and picked up a flagrant 1 for throwing rockets forward michael beasley to the ground in the first round. green also kicked cavs guard kyrie irving in the chest - inadvertently, green said - in game 1 of the finals, which was not penalized by the league.

"you have to do what you think is right for the play," vandeweghe said, "and unfortunately draymond put himself in this position."

golden state leads the series 3-1 and has easily been the better team. but losing a player of green's caliber could tip the scales just enough.

green is a plus-71 in the last two nba finals, serving as the heartbeat of the warriors defense and a critical playmaker on the other end of the court.

warriors coach steve kerr spoke to green earlier in the postseason about keeping his emotions in check, but they again got the better of him at a crucial time.

"draymond's success is based on playing like that," bogut said. "he plays physical and chippy and he's a talker. that's what makes him who he is. it's hard to tone that down when it's in you. we don't blame him for it."

the after-the-fact technical levied against james isn't unprecedented. it's the fourth assessed by the nba in the last two postseasons.

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