Draymond Green has already faced one ejection this season against the Phoenix Suns. With Stephen Curry sidelined, the Warriors veteran was expected to keep his composure and help lead the group. However, against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, Green once again found himself in trouble after being called for a flagrant foul. This decision also drew criticism from the broadcast team.

Kevin Harlan and Jim Jackson were on the call for Friday night’s game when Green made contact with Wembanyama during a physical sequence.

Draymond Green was first assessed a foul for shoving Victor Wembanyama from behind. The play came after Dylan Harper hit a corner three, putting San Antonio up 45-22 with 6:47 remaining in the second quarter.

“We’ve all loved the passion, the fight, the desire to win, to do anything, to be physical with Draymond,” said Jackson. “It’s times like those where he has to be smarter because he is. But you put yourself, not only yourself, but your team in a situation where you’re starting to make some run, a little progress. And now you put him behind the eight ball with two free throws given to Wemby.

“And now you’re relegated to sitting on the bench. So not a smart play that time by Draymond Green.”

Following the review, the officials upgraded the original loose-ball foul to a Flagrant 1, citing Draymond Green’s wind-up and acceleration into Wembanyama’s back. On Friday, it was Green’s first flagrant foul of the season (three in 68 games last year).

Draymond Green was then substituted out with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter but returned to the floor at the start of the third. However, after recording just one field goal and two assists, the veteran forward was taken out again with 7:25 left in the quarter. He did not return for the remainder of the contest, spending the entire fourth quarter on the bench.

With or without Draymond Green, the Spurs dominated the contest from the opening minutes. San Antonio extended their winning streak to 11 games with a commanding performance against a Warriors team missing Stephen Curry.

Victor Wembanyama and co. put together an 18-0 unanswered run, the longest run conceded by a Golden State team under Steve Kerr to start a game, according to ESPN’s Matt Williams. The Warriors struggled to find any offensive rhythm in the opening quarter, making just five of their 25 field-goal attempts. Managing only 14 points in the period, setting a new season low for the fewest points allowed by San Antonio in a single quarter.

Their previous low was 16 against Utah on November 2. The first-half numbers painted an even clearer picture of the mismatch, with the Spurs heading into the break holding a commanding 63-33 advantage. Stephon Castle was among San Antonio’s biggest contributors, finishing with 32 points to outscore the entire Warriors starting lineup, which combined for 30.

Victor Wembanyama continued to demonstrate why he has been such a dominant presence during San Antonio’s winning streak.

Across the team’s previous 10 victories, he had accumulated 326 points, 114 rebounds, 45 blocks and 21 three-pointers. No player had previously recorded that statistical combination over a 10-game stretch since blocks became an officially tracked statistic in the 1973-74 season. Meanwhile, Yaxel Lendeborg endured a difficult night against the Spurs.

After expressing his intention to take as many three-pointers as possible to draw Wembanyama away from the paint, Lendeborg finished just 1-of-13 from the field in 23 minutes, posting a minus-40 plus-minus rating. It was comfortably the worst performance of his young NBA career.