Warriors' Draymond Green Says NSFW Taunts From Rockets Fans Are 'Not Original'

Even in the Golden State Warriors' 109-94 loss to the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of their Western Conference playoff series, Draymond Green is working to get under the skin of his opponents.

Green and Fred VanVleet were jawing at each other near the Rockets bench midway through the fourth quarter, leading to a brief shoving match between the two teams that resulted in the Houston crowd chanting "f--k you, Draymond" at the Warriors forward.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Green explained the heckles were "not original" and pointed out fans in Boston did it to him during the 2022 NBA Finals.

"I've been there before," he said. "Won a championship while it was happening. So yeah, it's not really original. Can't steal other people's s--t; that belongs to Boston. So, I kind of just kept pushing."

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr added Green is an "instigator" and "lightning rod," but he would have preferred if fans had used "a little more discretion and remember the guy has kids."

The taunts toward Green were the capper on a frustrating night for the Warriors. In addition to losing the game, which evens the series at one game apiece, Jimmy Butler's health is going to be a huge story going forward.

Butler left the game in the first quarter with a pelvic contusion after being undercut by Amen Thompson when he was going for a rebound. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game and will undergo an MRI on Thursday, per Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard.

Even though many of the principles have changed over the years, particularly on the Rockets side, these two teams have a rich playoff history with each other. The Warriors have won all four times they've met in the postseason since 2015, including a memorable seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals in 2018.