Ejected: Draymond Green stomps Sabonis; Kings take 2-0 lead over Warriors in NBA playoffs

Kings center Domantas Sabonis was undergoing X-rays and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was facing the possibility of a suspension following acts of violence and defiance in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

The Kings took a stunning 2-0 series lead over the defending NBA champions with a 114-106 victory over the Warriors on Monday night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The Kings closed out the Warriors in the final minutes after Green was ejected for stomping on Sabonis with a size-15 foot to the midsection during a pivotal moment in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously, we hope our brother is OK,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “We hope he’s not injured, even just outside of basketball. A fractured rib or a punctured lung, that’s a serious injury, so we just hope for the best right now.”

A league source told The Sacramento Bee X-rays on Sabonis were negative. He will undergo further testing Tuesday as a precaution, but Sabonis expects to play when the series moves to San Francisco for Game 3 at Chase Center on Thursday.

“I should be good,” he said.

The whole scene with Green unfolded in front of a national television audience and NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who sat four rows behind the TNT broadcast table. Malik Monk missed a floater in the lane. Klay Thompson boxed out Sabonis and pushed him to the floor at the feet of Green, Sabonis said.

Sabonis grabbed Green’s right leg while putting his hands up to cover his face. Sabonis said he was protecting himself. Green said Sabonis grabbed his ankle. After review, Sabonis was given a technical foul and Green was issued a Flagrant 2 foul, resulting in an automatic ejection.

Sabonis and Green both offered their versions of what transpired following the game.

“I love the competition,” Sabonis said. “I love the playoffs and the challenge of taking on the Warriors. I got hit earlier in the game in the jaw, so I feel like I was kind of protecting myself, and then obviously that happened, and I feel like there’s no room for that. It’s the playoffs. A lot of things happen, but at that point, I get pushed. I’m falling on the floor. I’m just trying to protect myself.”

Green described it differently.

“My leg got grabbed,” he said. “Second time in two nights. Referees just watch it. I’ve got to land my foot somewhere, and I’m not the most flexible person, so it’s not stretching that far. I can only step so far … so it is what it is.”

Green was asked if he was given an explanation from the officials.

“The explanation was I stomped too hard,” Green said, later adding “I guess ankle grabbing is OK.”

As for his antics toward the crowd, Green said: “I was just having fun. It’s a fun game, a fun atmosphere to play in, so it was fun.”

The Kings have shown respect for Green, his game and Golden State’s dynasty leading up to this first-ever Northern California playoff series, but Green might have crossed a line against a team that now finds itself in command of this best-of-seven series.

“He’s a great player,” Sabonis said. “He comes in and competes. He’s a defending champion. We know it’s going to be a physical battle out there, so I’m just trying to do what I can to help my team win.

“… It’s Draymond. That’s how he plays. It’s his game. He’s had a successful career. What happened, I just feel like we can’t have that in our game today.”

Green reacted with a show of defiance while officials reviewed the play. He gestured to the Sacramento crowd, clapping his hands, climbing up on the Golden State bench and grabbing his crotch while inciting Kings fans who responded with middle fingers and chants of “Draymond sucks.”

Kings coach Mike Brown often speaks highly of Green after spending the past six seasons as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant with the Warriors, but even he couldn’t defend Green’s actions.

“I didn’t see what he did afterwards,” Brown said. “But for sure, it’s a Flagrant 2, and it’ll be interesting to see what the NBA does after they review it.”

Fox finished with 24 points, five rebounds, nine assists and four steals for the Kings, who beat the Warriors for the second time in 48 hours despite shooting 23.7% from 3-point range. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series are 222-21 (.914) all-time in the NBA playoffs.

Sabonis had 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Sacramento. Monk came off the bench to score 18 points.

Stephen Curry scored 28 points for Golden State, but he went 9 of 21 from the field and 3 of 13 from 3-point range while committing five turnovers. Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points. Klay Thompson had 21. Green finished with eight points, four rebounds, five assists and five turnovers.

“It’s unfamiliar territory, but we’ve been down 3-1,” Thompson said. “We’ve been up 3-1. We’ve been through everything. So we rely on our experience and we take a great off day tomorrow and we recollect ourselves and do what we do and that’s play well at home always.”

The Warriors went 33-8 at home during the regular season. They were 11-30 on the road.

The Kings came out cold for the second game in a row, starting 0 of 11 from 3-point range after going 2 of 11 to begin Game 1. The Kings didn’t make a 3-pointer until Fox drained one with 1:16 to play in the first quarter.

Brown went 10 deep in the opening period while searching for answers, bringing Monk, Davion Mitchell, Terence Davis, Trey Lyles and Alex Len off the bench. Nothing worked. The Kings shot 38.1% from the field and an abysmal 7.7% from 3-point range while the Warriors shot 47.4% and made 3 of 8 (.375) from beyond the arc.

The first quarter was a struggle, but the Kings came alive in the second. Monk made three 3-pointers in a span of 1:51 to help the Kings open the quarter with a 13-4 run. They tied the game on Monk’s second 3-pointer and took a 30-27 lead on his third.

And they didn’t stop there.

Sacramento outscored Golden State 23-8 over the first 5:16 to take a 40-31 lead on a breakaway dunk by Mitchell. The Kings went up by 10 on a free throw by Sabonis.

The Warriors came back to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Curry, but the Kings offered an immediate response. Mitchell came up with a steal, leading to a dunk by Harrison Barnes, and Sabonis made two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining, giving Sacramento a 58-52 lead at the half.

The Warriors committed five team fouls in the first 1:42 in the third quarter to put the Kings in the bonus early, but disaster really struck moments later when Kevon Looney picked up his fourth and fifth fouls, sending him to the bench with 6:51 to play in the third quarter. Green, who was on the bench with four fouls, had to come on to replace Looney at center.

That left the Warriors with no answer for Sabonis, who gave the Kings their largest lead of the game when he hit a jump hook over Green to put Sacramento up 77-64. The Kings would lead by as many as 14 before the Warriors battled back to cut the deficit to six on a basket by Wiggins.

Sacramento led 83-75 going into the fourth quarter. Golden State was down by four when Green got ejected. The Warriors still managed to get within one on a 3-pointer by Thompson with 3:11 remaining, but the Kings answered with an 10-2 run to take a commanding lead in the series.

The Kings scored eight points on 3-of-8 shooting in the fourth quarter before Green was ejected. They scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting after Green’s ejection.

“I think that brought us together,” Fox said. “HB brought us together. We huddled up and we’re like, ‘We have to win this game.’

“Everybody thought he’d be ejected, so when that happens, usually that team kind of comes together and goes on a run, but we were able to negate that, and I think we finished the game extremely well in those last few minutes.”