Warriors guard Draymond Green emerged from the pile of bodies with a ripped jersey, and a lot to say as he walked back to the locker room following a first-half scuffle with Wizards guard Bradley Beal Friday night.
"They out to get me, bro!" Green yelled on his way to the locker room. "They've been that way, though!
The fight, which occurred during waning seconds of the first half of the Warriors' 120-117 win, happened after Beal and Green got tangled underneath the basket following a missed 3-pointer from Kelly Oubre. In the midst of the box-out, Beal wrapped his arms around Green in what seemed like a punch to Green's face.
What resulted was an all-out shoving match, as players and coaches alike intervened. Oubre looked as if he took a swing at Warriors guard Klay Thompson. Warriors forward Kevin Durant played peacemaker, pulling Wizards guard John Wall out of the fray and calmly positioning him back on the court. Warriors forward Andre Iguodala was tasked with bringing Green out of the skirmish.
Both Green and Beal's journey's to the locker room provided a sight to behold. Beal, walking through the arena's south tunnel was met by a fan flashing a middle finger to his face, causing Beal to smile as he walked off. Green, however, was seething in anger as he walked to the Warriors locker room, believing he was he ejected for getting punched.
Following the game, Beal, who apologized to his team during halftime and again as they filed into the locker room following the game, didn't want to get into the specifics of the fight.
"It was a scuffle, I'm not going to go into details about it," Beal said. "Things got out of hand and we both got ejected."
While Beal remained mum about his role in the tiff, Wall placed blame on another factor at hand.
"The refs didn't really do too much early on and they kept letting it go on," Wall said. "When you keep letting it go on it gets to a point where it's like that."
"Things were said, things were done throughout the whole game but I'm not going into details about it," Beal said. "I should've just let it be, kept it moving. But at the same time, like I said before, there are lines that should or shouldn't be crossed."
Across the corridor, the Warriors took a more diplomatic approach to defend Green, who didn't speak to the media.
"It's two competitors going at it," Durant said. "Brad and Draymond really want to win and it's more than going out there and playing, it's physical. They talk trash, it happens. It's unfortunate that Draymond got tossed for getting punched."
"I thought Draymond defended himself," Warriors forward David West said. "He bit the bullet in terms of getting ejected."
The status for the two players going forward remains unclear.
Beal's Wizards are slated for a game Sunday in Sacramento against the Kings, while the Warriors will play host to the Detroit Pistons.
"I'm disappointed in myself more anything," Beal said. "I apologized to my teammates and I can't put myself in that situation at the end of the day."
