​Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) guards Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) in the first half of game action at the Toyota Center in Houston on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle)
The Houston Rockets have drawn some heat from NBA fans following Wednesday night’s win over the Golden State Warriors in a game that included superstar Stephen Curry getting hurt and Marcus Smart throwing a punch at Charles Bassey.The Rockets found a strange ally Friday in the Warriors’ Draymond Green, a long-time villain in Houston who made it known that he doesn’t think the Rockets are a dirty team, while also explaining what frustrates him about playing them.”Do they do some bulls- when we play them? Absolutely,” Green said on the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, which came out Friday. “I think the thing that may irritate me the most is they play super physical and then they start flopping sometimes. So, I would say that irritates me more, but I’m not going to sit here and call them a dirty team. They’re a physical team.”Green and the Warriors have a long history with the Rockets. They were a constant thorn in the side of the James Harden Era Rockets, eliminating them four times in five years, including twice in the Western Conference finals. They also took out the Rockets in the first round in 2025, making it the third time in an 11-year stretch that Golden State closed out a playoff series at Toyota Center.That leads to some angst among the home crowd whenever the Rockets come to town, which is what Green was counting on when the Warriors cut the lead to five with seven minutes remaining in Wednesday’s game that Houston eventually won 115-108.”One thing you’ve got to understand about the Houston Rockets is, we’ve got a little mind control in that arena,” Green said. “So, all of a sudden, you hit one or two of those shots, they feel different. They start to feel that pressure. They start to feel like, ‘Oh man, is this happening again?'”Because of his team’s success in Houston and his extra physical play, Green has been a target for Rockets fans, including a vulgar chant during the 2025 playoffs. The stakes weren’t as high this week, but Green explained why he pointed out a fan to security and got that fan ejected in his most recent visit.”He called me a b-, and, yeah, we’re just not going for that,” he said. “He called me that and then he stood up and started cheering. It’s pretty wack because quite honestly, you ain’t going to come down there and stand on that type of time. I hate when fans try to do that. If you come to cheer, come to cheer. If you want to heckle, heckle. The name-calling like that? You ain’t really willing to do what comes with that, so just be a fan. Heckle, taunt all you want, but the name-calling like that, that don’t go over too well.”Green also addressed Smart punching Bassey, which started when the Rockets guard was agitated by Bassey hooking his previously injured elbow. Ac