Steve Kerr takes issue with Houston’s chants at Draymond Green as Warriors-Rockets series intensifies

Even as the physicality escalated on the court in Battle of the Warriors first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets coach Steve Kerr thought the fans inside the soldout Toyota Center crossed the line It s not ideal when a crowd is chanting F you Draymond Kerr mentioned after Golden State s - loss Wednesday night evened the series at a match apiece I m all for fans cheering for their crew and if they want to yell at the opponents great But I just think F you is a little much The four-letter word rung out in unison as the clock wound down and Green splayed out on his seat on the Warriors bench It wasn t the first time an opposing crowd has directed the chant toward Green notably happening in Boston during the NBA Finals Green seemed to be less bothered by the obscenities than his coach It s not original he shrugged while polishing his sunglasses behind the microphone Been there before won a championship while it was happening Can t steal other peoples stuff That belongs to Boston Nonetheless as the series shifts to San Francisco it has already taken on the intensity of particular of the Warriors fiercest previous battles Houston played great they were really physical just like we expected Kerr commented We ve just got to lick our wounds and back to work on the morrow This is who we ve been all season Houston forward Tari Eason stated We ve been a tough unit We ve been a gritty grindy band all season We are who we are The Rockets outrebounded the Warriors by double digits and held them below points for the second consecutive championship but moreover revealed they weren t afraid to muck it up The teams combined for six technical fouls three apiece and it could have been more Neither Green nor Fred VanVleet were T d up after exchanging words late in the fourth quarter leading to both benches spilling onto the court and needing to be separated The only foul assessed was on Eason who threw a towel into the group of Golden State players With them particular of the guys they ve got over there their thing is to try to beat you mentally Eason mentioned He didn t name names But the Houston crowd did He s a competitor he s consistently going to be in the mix I ll ride with Draymond forever Kerr declared Because of his career his championships his fire he s going to be a lightning rod That s all part of it I would prefer fans use a little bit more discretion and remember the guy has kids Maybe I m old school Quinten Post who earned one of the Warriors technicals mentioned I think you saw a lot more emotions from both sides compared to the first encounter of the series Green on the other hand didn t just downplay the crowd but also the intensity on the court in a competition that saw the Warriors lose Jimmy Butler III to injury battling for a rebound in the first quarter He stated he thought it was a little less physical than Encounter and after a few thought Stephen Curry concurred There were just a couple crashes that happened out there noted Curry who wasn t above getting on the ground for a loose ball tussling with the Rockets leading scorer Jalen Green in the first half We know what their M O is and what they re trying to do Use their size and their athleticism to try to bully us We put up a pretty good fight in both games Ostensibly as physical as Championship just a different style Both teams get two days to recover before Meeting on Saturday but the Warriors fate likely rests in the results of the MRI that is scheduled for Butler in between He was diagnosed with a pelvic contusion after falling hard on his tailbone While Amen Thompson was called for a common foul on the play it wasn t determined to be a flagrant As he crashed the offensive glass Thompson undercut Butler and took his legs out from underneath him Related Articles Warriors lose chippy Challenge to Rockets after Butler injured Warriors lose Jimmy Butler to hard fall in first half of playoff event vs Rockets Warriors Brandin Podziemski questionable for Match vs Rockets Why Warriors Draymond Green should or shouldn t win the NBA Defensive Participant of the Year award Warriors looking to pick up the pace against old-school Rockets in Championship The Warriors didn t believe it was a dirty play I solicited our guys behind the bench and they revealed it just looked like there was specific physicality on the rebound and Thompson just inadvertently revealed himself underneath Jimmy Kerr noted We didn t think there was anything wrong with the play It was just one of those plays Green as invariably revealed himself in the middle of it I was trying to box out Thompson he stated Somehow he ended up under Jimmy s legs