San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama absorbed a blindside shove from Golden State forward Draymond Green during Friday’s 123-85 victory.
The incident occurred with 6:47 remaining in the first half after Spurs guard Dylan Harper made a 3-pointer, according to reports on the Spurs’ blowout win.
Green was assessed a flagrant-1 foul for the shove, marking the 21st such penalty of his career, as noted by Yahoo Sports.
Wembanyama expressed little surprise regarding the physical play, noting that Green is known for his aggressive style of gamesmanship.
“I mean, it’s not surprising,” Wembanyama said regarding the incident.
The Warriors had signaled their intent to play physically before the game, with rookie Yaxel Lendeborg telling reporters the team planned to try to rough the center up, per the Yahoo Sports article.
Wembanyama dismissed the strategy as ineffective for competitive basketball.
“It’s not a good basketball strategy and it shows,” Wembanyama stated following the game.
He added that he is willing to absorb such contact if it helps his team secure a victory.
Lendeborg struggled significantly against the Spurs’ defense, finishing the game 1-of-13 from the field.
The rookie acknowledged that the defensive presence of Wembanyama affected his performance throughout the night.
“I was flustered the entire game,” Lendeborg said of his struggles.
Meanwhile, Spurs forward Devin Vassell returned to the lineup after missing two games with adductor tightness.
Vassell played 22 minutes and recorded seven points, noting that the blowout nature of the game made his minutes restriction less critical.
“We had a great game, so that minute restriction didn’t matter,” Vassell said in comments published by the Express-News.
Vassell expects to be available for the team’s upcoming Sunday game against Utah.
The Warriors, playing without injured star Stephen Curry, recorded a season scoring low in the loss.