Draymond Green in heated moment with Rockets Fred VanVleet in Warriors playoff loss

Rockets vs.Warriors looked a bit more like a rugby match in Game 2 on Wednesday.Warriors star Draymond Green had a combustible face-to-face altercation with Rockets guard Fred VanVleet in Houston’s 109-94 win, where it took about a dozen coaches and players to separate the two.Green could be seen inaudibly yelling at VanVleet while the Rockets guard held his ground in a 99-80 game with 5:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.Green, who had a technical foul assessed already just a minute prior and was flirting with being ejected during the skirmish, was not assessed a second technical foul for his role in the situation.Instead, a technical foul was issued to Rockets forward Tari Eason, who threw his dirty towel into the face of Warriors reserve Pat Spencer.Green later downplayed the incident with VanVleet, saying nothing happened and they were “just talking.”“Everybody came and surrounded and started pushing,” Green said.

“You know, a lot happened if I didn’t get a tech.If anything happened, I would get a tech.

We were just standing there talking.”Steve Kerr echoed a similar sentiment and blamed fans’ heckling for Green’s reactions.“He’s a competitor, he’s always in the mix,” Kerr said postgame.“I’ll ride with Draymond forever.

He’s an amazing winner and competitor.It’s not ideal when a crowd is chanting ‘F you, Draymond.’ Draymond has been around forever.

He’s an instigator … I would prefer if fans could use a little more discretion and remember that he has kids.I don’t know, maybe I’m old school.

I just think ‘F you’ is a little much.”The Rockets held on after the conflict to even the series at 1-1.There is plenty of uncertainty surrounding the series now, though, as Warriors’ prized wing and trade deadline acquisition Jimmy Butler was forced out of the game in the first quarter after Rockets guard Amen Thompson took out his legs while jumping for a rebound.Butler suffered a pelvic contusion and did not retu...