Warriors ‘loved’ Draymond Green’s ejection: ‘Lit a fire in all of us’

SAN FRANCISCO — The first time Draymond Green and longtime nemesis Dillon Brooks shared the floor this season, only one of them was still left by the end.

In that battle, consider Brooks the winner.

In the one that actually matters in terms of wins and losses, point to Green and the Warriors.

Green’s ejection 2 minutes into the second half Monday night awakened the sleep-walking Warriors, who erased a 17-point deficit in his absence to pull out a 116-113 win.

“He lit a fire in all of us,” said Stephen Curry, “and we had to respond. So I’m glad we did.”

While the double technical ended Green’s night and put him two closer to the 16-tech threshold that automatically merits a one-game suspension, the Warriors had no problem with it.

In fact, just the opposite.

“I loved it,” said fourth-year guard Brandin Podziemski, who had six points in the first half but finished with 20. “It fueled our team. We didn’t have that edge to start the game. …

“Maybe he sensed it. Maybe he didn’t. But it helped.”

Green wrapped both arms around Khaman Maluach as Phoenix’s 7-foot center tried to finish at the rim shortly into the third quarter and threw him to the ground. Almost as soon as Maluach hit the floor, Brooks was in Green’s face, a familiar juxtaposition for two of the NBA’s most fiery players. Green responded by grabbing Brooks’ jersey with both hands, close to his neck.

Upon review, the incident resulted in technical fouls for Green and Brooks, and a second on Green for his “throwdown” of Maluach. That earned Green an early trip to the showers.

And almost instantaneously, the game flipped in the Warriors’ favor.

They were trailing 68-57 when Green was tossed at the 10-minute mark. Not even four minutes later, the Warriors had rallied to tie the score at 73 and never trailed by more than six again.

The Suns responded to Green’s absence by going small, subbing out Oso Ighodaro with 6-foot-7 forward Ryan Dunn at center. Coach Steve Kerr didn’t care to weigh in on Green’s testy back-and-forth with Brooks but said the Suns’ adjustment “opened up the game.”

“I think they played maybe 12 minutes of super small with [6-foot-7 forward Ryan] Dunn at the five,” Kerr said. “It kind of opened up the game a little bit. Our crowd got into it and our guys just did a great job of finding energy on a back-to-back.”

While the Warriors were on the back end of their second back-to-back of the season, the Suns were well-rested having played Friday. When they squared off Monday night, it was the Warriors’ eighth game of the season to only the Suns’ fifth.

So even though Green and Curry sat out against the Clippers the night before, it was understandable for the Warriors to come out sluggish.

The fact that they were able to rally and finish stronger, well, maybe some credit belongs to the guy who spent most of the second half in the locker room.

“We’ve got to have our brother’s back when he defends us,” Curry said. “But it’s also one of those games, most of the guys on the back to back, Phoenix had been off for a couple days, they started 1-3 and [we] knew they were gonna come out playing desperate. …

“We just tried to weather the storm, execute, give ourselves a chance, and that third quarter was the run that we needed to get back into it.”