There is a decidedly new beef in the NBA, and it's between Draymond Green and Jusuf Nurkic.
Green's indefinite suspension this season, which lasted 11 games, was a result of him swinging and hitting Nurkic in the face. Nurkic criticized Green after the December 12 game in which Green was ejected, saying, "That brother needs help. I'm glad he not try and choke me."
It ratcheted up a notch Saturday night, the first time Green and Nurkic played each other since the incident.
The two went back and forth all night . At one point in the game, Nurkic scored on Green, then did the "too small" gesture and slapped the court to taunt Green.
Later, Nurkic almost turned his back away from Green, at which point Green drove hard to the rim, scored on him, and gave him the "too small" gesture in return. Green ripped Nurkic for that after the game (which ended with a Stephen Curry game-winning 3-pointer you can watch here , and a Green stop on Kevin Durant).
"Can't get bullied a couple plays on that," Green said, smiling. "You can't be a nothing defender if you want to do that. So you gonna do all of that -- the man probably outweighs me by 70 pounds and you get put in the rim? Got to be more careful."
Green had 15 points (7-of-9, 1-of-3 from 3-pt), 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. Nurkic had 6 points (3-of-7, 0-of-1 from 3-pt), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 26 minutes.
Green was also asked about Nurkic hitting him, to which he said people should look at the tape.
"He was hitting me a lot today," Green said. "You should go back and watch the film, just like key in on him and look at him. It was a lot of little cheap shots, but I knew his goal was to get me out the game. No one wants to see me in the game, that makes the game a lot tougher."
Nurkic said Green hadn't learned anything from his suspension.
"It's sad," Nurkic said. "He didn't learn anything. Just a matter of time. He's going to knock somebody else again. Take back everything I said. He don't deserve a chance."
Nurkic was asked to clarify exactly what he was referring to, pointing to "antics" and that Green, "try to hit people."
Green, of course, was informed of Nurkic's comments during his own presser.
His response? After sitting for a few moments and calculating, he responded in kind.
“I mean, I thought I was pretty great tonight, honestly," Green said. "He tried to get in my head and it didn’t work. If he wants me to walk around quiet like him, I'm never going to do that. Quiet guys don't win. I thought I was pretty great tonight. So, yeah. He can keep riding that same horse he rode in on, he can ride his ass home out of here on that same horse. It ain’t working.”
Green wasn't the only one with some spice. Stephen Curry was asked about Nurkic's comments. He was blunt.
"Draymond was in his head," Curry said. "Plain and simple."
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