Mitchell on Draymond incident: 'He pushed me, so I pushed him back'
Donovan Mitchell insists he didn't start Saturday night's incident between him and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.
“He pushed me, so I pushed him back,” Mitchell said after the Cavaliers 118-110 win over the Warriors, according to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com.
Mitchell added: “Simple tit for tat. Nothing outside of that. I just knew they had to look at that previous play. Gotta know the rulebook a little bit.”
With over six minutes left in the third quarter, Mitchell ran and pushed Green, who was bringing up the ball. The two then got into a heated interaction and were separated.
Draymond Green and Donovan Mitchell getting into it 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZrRHBI6EIb
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 12, 2023
Upon review of the incident, game referees caught Green shoving Mitchell in the back on the previous play, which caused the latter to stumble out of bounds. The Warriors' veteran was assessed a second technical foul and ejected, while Mitchell was handed a common foul for the push. The Cavs' star gave Green the peace sign as he was leaving the court.
Draymond Green was assessed a second technical and was ejected after this shove on Donovan Mitchell 🧐 pic.twitter.com/A16xJuBDkg
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 12, 2023
Mitchell smirked when asked if he knew that Green had already picked up a technical earlier in the game, given for arguing with a referee.
"I don’t push people for no reason," said Mitchell. "Couldn’t let that go without nothing being done. I was like, 'I got hit, so I’m getting mine back.'"
The two teams have a storied rivalry, with the franchises making four straight NBA Finals from 2014-2018. The Warriors won three of those championships, while the Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit to take home their first title in 2016. Tristan Thompson, a member of that era of Cavaliers basketball, returned to the team in the offseason.
"I think our guys understand the history of the NBA and any time you meet as many times in a row, and how heated the battles were, that supersedes just those guys in that moment. It's something our organizations will remember, and it's passed on through history and tradition," said Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Cleveland sits at 4-5, good for ninth in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs take on the Sacramento Kings on Monday.