Amid that chatter, Houston forward Dillon Brooks --the Rockets' elbow-throwing answer to Green--told reporters, "I think the dirty player is Draymond, giving [Thompson] a little push. That's what regular basketball players do."

Even in the Golden State Warriors' 109-94 loss to the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of their Western Conference playoff series, Draymond Green is working to get under the skin of his opponents. Green and Fred VanVleet were jawing at each other near the Rockets bench midway through the fourth quarter,

In big moments, athletes often say they zone out the crowd noise and focus on the task at hand. That wasn't the case for the Golden State Warriors late in the Houston Rockets' 109-94 Game 2 victory that evened the two teams' first-round playoff series.