:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/25762049/459354199.0.jpg)
BA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn announced Thursday that Clippers forward Blake Griffin should not have been ejected during the Los Angeles' 105-103 road loss to the Warriors on Christmas.
Griffin received two technical fouls: the first at the end of the third quarter, and the second, which required an automatic ejection, early in the fourth. On the first foul, Griffin was given a technical for reacting to an elbow from Draymond Green, who was whistled for a flagrant foul. On the second, Griffin was reacting to Andrew Bogut, who had grabbed his jersey. An NBA review determined that Griffin should not have been given the second technical foul and should have remained in the game.
"After a league review of the Clippers-Warriors game, we have come to the conclusion that Blake Griffin should not have been ejected from the game," Thorn announced in a statement. "A common foul should have been called on Griffin for initially attempting to dislodge the Warriors' Andrew Bogut and a technical foul should have been assessed to Bogut for grabbing Griffin by the shirt and wrestling with him."
Additionally, the league office fined Green $15,000 for "failing to leave the court in a timely manner" after he was ejected for delivering an elbow to Griffin's head and neck area, which drew a Flagrant Foul 2 from game officials. The Flagrant Foul 2 designation applies to contact deemed to be "unnecessary and excessive," and it carries an automatic ejection. Green departed with zero points (on 0-for-3 shooting) and one assist in eight minutes.