Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green and Denver Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon get into tussle in opening minutes of Game 4

Draymond Green and Aaron Gordon get into it early in Game 4 of Nuggets-Warriors series.

TSN

It took until Game 4 of the playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets for some spiciness to break out among players of both sides — as opposed to a spicy breakout among players of the same team. 

Just a couple of minutes into the start of the game, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney began double-teaming Nikola Jokic. While swiping for the ball, Green poked Jokic in the eye, which Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon took exception to. The two began pushing at one another, and officials had to step in to separate the players.

Both Gordon and Green were, as expected, assessed technical fouls for the incident. Green was also given a foul for swiping at Jokic.

It’s no surprise that a Nuggets player stood up for a teammate who was hit in the eye by someone who has a bit of a reputation for rough defending. However, it is funny that the person who stepped to Green was Gordon, a player that the Nuggets made a sizable trade for, who has been under-performing for the entirety of this series.

Perhaps this was only about protecting the team, and likely league, MVP. But there’s also a chance that this is also about releasing frustration that has built up over being stifled through three games so far.

Gabe Fernandez is a sports reporter for SFGATE. You can reach him at gabe.fernandez@sfgate.com.