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A forearm strike<\/a> to the head of Suns center Jusuf Nurkic<\/a> in December earned Draymond Green<\/a> a suspension that ultimately cost him 16 games, but it was the Warriors forward\/center who got the last laugh in a 113-112 win over Phoenix on Saturday.<\/p>\n As Kendra Andrews of ESPN<\/a> writes, Nurkic and Green exchanged words a few minutes into the fourth quarter after a foul was called on Green. Several seconds later, Nurkic was whistled for an offensive foul against Green, prompting the former Defensive Player of the Year to point to his own head twice on his way back up the court.<\/p>\n \u201cI was calling him a dummy when I was pointing to my head,\u201d\u00a0Green said.\u00a0\u201cI wasn\u2019t saying I was keeping my head. I was saying, you can\u2019t start talking and then charge into me. That\u2019s not smart.\u201d<\/p>\n The two big men got into it again in the third quarter when Nurkic scored over Green and taunted him with a \u201ctoo small\u201d gesture. Green returned the favor a couple minutes later by backing down Nurkic for a basket and making the same gesture.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t be a nothing defender if you\u2019re going to do that,\u201d\u00a0Green said. \u201cYou probably outweigh me by 70 pounds and you get put in the rim? Got to be more careful.\u201d<\/p>\n Following December\u2019s incident, Nurkic wished Green well<\/a> as the Warriors star underwent counseling and learned to manage his behavior following a series of violent on-court incidents. However, his tone had changed following Saturday\u2019s game, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic<\/a> details.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad,\u201d\u00a0Nurkic said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t learn anything, man. Just a matter of time. He\u2019s going to knock somebody else again. Take everything back what I said. He don\u2019t deserve a chance.<\/p>\n “Just his antics,\u201d\u00a0Nurkic continued when asked why he felt Green hadn\u2019t changed.\u00a0\u201cTry to hit people. The stuff he shouldn\u2019t do, but I don\u2019t care. At the end of the day, he tried to play that way. No one is worried about him. They got the win tonight. We\u2019ll see what happens in a few games.\u201d<\/p>\n As Nurkic\u2019s comments reached the Warriors\u2019 locker room, some key members of the team scoffed at them, suggesting that Green\u2019s ability to play a physical, fiery game without crossing the line was a sign that he had taken the lessons learned during his suspension to heart. Green was assessed with a technical foul on Saturday for the first time since returning from his 16-game absence, but helped lead the team to victory with 15 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.<\/p>\n \u201cThat month off, that suspension was real,\u201d\u00a0head coach Steve Kerr said, per Andrews.\u00a0\u201c(Draymond) knew that his career was on the line or is on the line. He understands that he\u2019s got to be the guy he\u2019s been the last nine years, not the one he\u2019s been the last year. I see him doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n