NBA suspends Warriors’ Draymond Green for Game 5

If the Golden State Warriors win the NBA championship Monday, they’ll do it without their most versatile player.

Forward-center Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals after striking Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the groin toward the end of Game 4.

Green was retroactively assessed a flagrant foul by the NBA on Sunday, putting him over the limit for flagrant fouls in the playoffs and leading to an automatic one-game suspension.

Golden State leads Cleveland, 3-1, and hosts Game 5 at Oracle Arena.

“The cumulative points system is designed to deter flagrant fouls in our game,” NBA disciplinarian Kiki VanDeWeghe said. “While Draymond Green’s actions in Game 4 do not merit a suspension as a stand-alone act, the number of flagrant points he has earned triggers a suspension for Game 5.”

Green was the runner-up for the NBA’s defensive player of the year award and can also score, rebound and pass with precision. He is averaging 14.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists in the Finals.

Predictably, his suspension was met with disapproval by the Warriors. James voiced his displeasure with the play after Game 4, saying Green crossed the line, which Warriors guard Klay Thompson found amusing when asked about it Sunday.

“Guys talk trash in this league all the time. I’m just kind of shocked some guys take it so personal,” Thompson said, laughing. “I mean, it’s a man’s league and I’ve heard a lot of bad things on that court, but at the end of the day it stays on the court…. I guess [James’] feelings just got hurt.”

James started the play in question by knocking down Green and stepping over him, considered an aggressive, if not disrespectful, move in the NBA. Green then rapped James below the waist while still down on the court.

James seemed surprised to hear what Thompson said.

“Oh, my goodness,” he said, laughing. “It’s so hard to take the high road. I’ve been doing it for 13 years. It’s so hard to continue to do it, and I’m going to do it again.”

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr declined to say who would take Green’s starting spot. He was less opaque while questioning the cumulative aspect of the rule.

“I do think it’s curious that somebody who gets knocked out in the first round and who’s been on vacation for seven weeks is under the same penalty system as somebody who is still playing in the Finals now,” Kerr said. “It seems like a strange rule. It’s not anything we’re going to bring up with the league. Maybe it’s something to talk about in the off-season.”

Meanwhile, there’s a game Monday. An elimination one, at that.

A 3-1 deficit was never successfully overcome in 32 previous NBA Finals. The championship-starved city of Cleveland, and James, would certainly like it to happen.

“That’s always been my goal since I was drafted in 2003,” James said. “My goal was to bring a championship to Cleveland, and it hasn’t changed.”

The Cavaliers’ three Finals losses have been by double figures, and there was little apparent momentum for them after losing Game 4 by 11 points. Thompson and Stephen Curry combined for 63 points and 11 three-pointers that night after having subpar starts to the Finals.

The Cavaliers didn’t celebrate Green’s suspension but undeniably caught a break.

Maybe they’ll take advantage of it and send the series back to Cleveland for Game 6.

If not, it’ll be another fruitless NBA season for the Cavaliers, making it 46 in all.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan