DRAYMOND GREEN ANGRILY CRITICIZED NBA REFEREES, CALLING THEM THE MOST ECCENTRIC AMONG NBA OFFICIALS. ‘IF I DID THE SAME THING, I WOULD BE THROWN IN JAIL’ (kf)

Draymond Green calls NBA officials’ communication “wackiest part” of refereeing.

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Golden State clinched their second consecutive victory with a 134-120 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, sparking Warriors forward Draymond Green to address what he perceives as double standards among NBA referees.

Green expressed frustration over a play in the early third quarter where Austin Reaves was not called for a foul after catching an elbow. He argued that if he had made a similar play and hit someone in the face, he would likely have been ejected.

“Austin [Reaves] gashed his elbow, hit me in the teeth, and it’s not foul,” Green, who finished with 15 points and 10 assists, said in the post-game conference. “I get hit in the face every single game, and I get no foul calls.

“I hit someone in the face, I get thrown under the jail. But when I get hit in the face, they don’t see it,” he went on to highlight. “I get hit in the face every single night. I’m not sure one time it’s been called. But I f***ing blow my breath on somebody, and we’re reviewing for a flagrant foul. I don’t get this, it’s crazy to me.”

“Steph [Curry] was standing here, because he heard how the referee talked to me, and he went immediately from talking to me like, ‘Yo, you can’t talk to him like that.’ And I think that’s the wackiest part about it,” Green said. “You can say and speak to me however you feel, but if I say something back, it’s a tech. Like that’s whack to me.

“You miss a call, got clubbed me across the face, and then you like, ‘I don’t wanna talk to you. Get out of my face!’ Like, ‘Who are you?’ … You can’t get mad because you missed the call. It’s a little crazy, but I appreciate the guys being there; it’s a bit frustrating.”

The Warriors (44-35) have been on a strong run, winning eight of their last nine games, bringing them within a half-game of the ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers (45-35).

Golden State also won the head-to-head tiebreaker between the rivals, putting homecourt advantage for a potential 9-10 play-in game next week in the Warriors’ hands over their final three regular-season games.