Draymond talking to Porzingis after locking him up ? pic.twitter.com/K5ag1ZzbsY
— Chris Montano (@gswchris) December 29, 2019
The most entertaining half of the Warriors’ season began with swishes and ended with slams.
No, not dunks. An onslaught of rips directed at Kristaps Porzingis.
The Warriors-Mavericks game Saturday at Chase Center, which was dominated early by D’Angelo Russell (30 points on 15 shots at the half), went from shootout to shoving match late in the second quarter, as Draymond Green was not going to slow Porzingis without some jawing, too.
With 1:08 to go in the second quarter, the former Knicks big man was finally finished with the Warriors forward’s chirping, the two needing to be separated and the game coming to a halt.
Double-technicals were assessed on both, as the 7-foot-3 Porzingis was 3-of-7 at the half for nine points, but also had two turnovers courtesy Green. After each, Green’s mouth kept running even if the game had stopped.
About 40 seconds later, Glenn Robinson III drove to the basket, and Porzingis greeted him more with a shove than an attempted block. The fans’ sudden fury at the Latvian was shared by a well-dressed Klay Thompson, who can still take shots even in a suit.
Thompson and Porzingis screamed at each other from afar for several moments before a timeout was called. Warriors-Mavericks turned into the Bay Area vs. Porzingis. (The score, by the way? 74-72 Warriors.)
Porzingis does not want that Klay Thompson smoke pic.twitter.com/MihivCWfQS
— Chris Montano (@gswchris) December 29, 2019