Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green: Ref talk 'embarrassing for the game'

May 1 (UPI) -- Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green acknowledged that the talk surrounding NBA officiating in the aftermath of Game 1 was "embarrassing" for basketball.

Green said he was happy that the Houston Rockets and Warriors were less talkative toward referees in his team's 115-109 win in Tuesday night's Game 2.

"I think both teams just realized what the hell was going on the last two days," Green told reporters. "You can't really turn a blind eye to anything in today's day and age, with social media and all these things. So everyone was aware of all the talk about officiating and about foul calls. Come out and play the game, and I think both teams did a great job of that."

Green added that the chatter about the NBA's officials took away from the players and their respective matchups.

"They weren't complaining about many calls, we weren't complaining about many calls, because it's kind of embarrassing for the game of basketball, how much has been talked about fouls and officiating," Green said. "What about beating your man? What about stopping your man? No one talked anything about schemes the last two days. It's all been about foul calls. I think both teams were locked in on coming out and playing the game to the best of their ability."

There was an increased focus on the officials after Sunday's Game 1 between the Rockets and Warriors, due in large part to Houston's complaints about missed foul calls on closeouts and loose balls. The spotlight grew brighter when the NBA announced that Scott Foster was part of the officiating crew for Tuesday night's matchup.

Foster had not worked a Rockets game since Feb. 21, when James Harden fouled out and said after the game that Foster shouldn't be assigned to a Houston game. Harden was fined $25,000 for his comments, but after Game 2, the star guard and Chris Paul brushed off the referee talk.

"I don't know," Paul told reporters. "I was chilling."

"What ref chatter?" Harden said. "There was no chatter."

Paul appeared to feel differently during the contest. Late in the third quarter, Warriors star forward Kevin Durant was called for a foul on Harden after not giving the guard enough space to land on his follow-through and making contact with him on a 3-pointer. The foul call, one that the Rockets argued should have been called more, led to Paul sarcastically jumping around and cheering.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry said that Golden State's focus was on the game, not on calls they might receive.

"All the conversations and all the storylines and the attention of Game 1, the one thing that we could control is our focus on what matters," Curry said. "In terms of winning a basketball game, that's outplaying them. We came in with the right composure in understanding that there will be calls that won't go our way. You just deal with it, keep playing it. Next-play mentality."

Game 3 is Saturday in Houston. The Warriors hold a 2-0 series lead.