Thompson tells LeBron the National Basketball Association is a ‘man’s league’

But on Monday at 9 p.m. ET he will be asked to watch Game 5 on ABC like everyone else. When he’s firing, the Cavaliers have a player who can defend opposing bigs, run the pick and roll, and stretch the floor as a 3-point shooter.

The Warriors will have to do it without power forward Draymond Green, who is suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals after he was assessed a flagrant foul 1 by the league for his actions against Cavaliers forward LeBron James in Game 4 on Friday night.

And maybe in a few decades, some coach will lose a great player in the middle of some future Finals, and he’ll say, hey, remember when the Warriors lost Draymond Green in Game 5 and then. The Warriors dominated Cleveland in virtually every aspect of the game offensively and defensively. Curry led all scorers with 38 points, while Thompson added 25 of his own, knocking down shots from the outside and demoralizing the opposition like they had all year. Will Lue start Love or will he go back to a smaller line up with Richard Jefferson?

Game 3: In a stunning role reversal, the Cavaliers turned the tables on the Warriors with a 120-90 victory at Quicken Loans Arena. With this incident, the obvious question that comes to mind is can the record-breaking Warriors manage to win game G at home despite Green’s suspension? Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports the National Basketball Association will allow Green to participate in the celebrations after Game 5, should the Warriors defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena Monday night.

Fortunately, the Splash Brothers finally broke out in Game 4.

They do best when doubted, as they were when they fell behind 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals. On Monday night, they could finish off James and the Cavaliers at home in roaring Oracle Arena.

Rather, it was the fact that after reviewing the play, the league assessed Green with a Flagrant Foul 1 (the less serious of two that can be applied). In this case, Green hitting LeBron James below the belt was ruled a flagrant foul, and it automatically resulted in a suspension because Green already had three flagrant foul points in the playoffs.

“We were surprised”, NBA Most Valuable Player and scoring leader Curry said. “I mean, trash talk is a part of the game of basketball”.

Steve Kerr and his Warriors coaching staff were working furiously Sunday to figure out what to do without Green, game-planning minus an All-Star swingman who does it all on defense, can bring the ball up court when necessary, is Golden State’s top rebounder this postseason and a threat for a triple-double each time he steps on the floor – celebratory muscle-flexing and all.

James is playing in his seventh Finals – sixth straight. Still, Brandon Rush is another option who has been out of Golden State’s rotation in the playoffs, but started a significant stretch of the season when Barnes was injured. It could cost the Warriors a chance to clinch on Monday at Oracle. Their previous two titles were won in Washington (1975) and Cleveland (2015). “There’s many routes you can take”. He has had success going right after Curry.

“Its disappointing, but Im not going to let it get us down, ” Thompson said.

Cleveland, however, remains upbeat despite the near-Sisyphean task at hand, highlighting the need for the team to be ready and take it one game at a time.

Green is averaging 15.3 points this postseason — third-most on the team behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — and a team-leading 9.6 rebounds along with almost six assists. Tristan Thompson has been a problem for the Warriors with 22 offensive rebounds in the series. Will Lebron James rebound in Game 5? Anderson Varejao and James Michael McAdoo could contribute important minutes off the bench.