Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue saw a hidden intention for Draymond Green hard foul on LeBron James. He was sure the foul was a message to him and his team.
The foul was committed in the first half of the 126-91 embarrassing defeat from Golden State Warriors on Monday, Jan.16. In an interview with Cleveland.com during the practice session on Wednesday, he insinuated that Green gave a notice to the Cavaliers.
"Was it a statement? I think so," Lue said. "He wanted to try to send a message to our team."
Green made a hard foul on James when the Cavaliers small forward tried to make a layup. He bumped him and made James fell hard to the floor. Afterward, a skirmish between players of both teams occurred.
Officials made a long review of the incident and ruled Flagrant 1 to Green, and also gave a technical foul to Green and Cavaliers' Richard Jefferson. Following the incident, James said that his experience to play football has helped him to handle such fall as reported by CBS Sports.
The rivalry between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers has become much fiercer this season. It began in the 2014-15 season when the two teams met in the 2015 NBA Finals. The Warriors defeated the Cavs 4-2 and brought the Larry O'Brien trophy to Bay Area. Both teams had a rematch in 2016 NBA Finals, and Cleveland Cavaliers won the game after trailing 3-0.
This season, both teams re-organize their roster and prepare for the third final showdown, which is expected to be in the 2017 NBA Finals. This season They have defeated each other once. During the Christmas, game, Cavaliers defeated the Warriors 109-108 at the Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland. While the Warriors took a turn to humiliate the Cavaliers on Monday, Jan.16 by winning 91-126 in a fierce game.
However, after the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr along with Green and Klay Thompson didn't take the foul to be serious in the interview below:
While on the other hand, Cavaliers head coach Lue said the incident was a statement play from Green as he said below:
While on the other hand, Cavaliers head coach Lue said the incident was a statement play from Green as he said below:
