Warriors guard Gary Payton II will reportedly miss at least three weeks after an MRI revealed he has slight ligament damage on top of having a fractured elbow, according to The Atheltic‘s Shams Charania.
The injury occurred on Tuesday night after Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks clubbed Payton while he was in the air attempting a layup early in the first quarter. Brooks was ejected for his actions.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said he didn’t know if the foul was intentional, but called it dirty.
“Dillon Brooks broke the code,” Kerr said. “That’s how I see it.”
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Told Kerr called Brooks’ flagrant foul dirty, Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said he just trusted the officials to make the call.
“They reviewed it,” Jenkins said. “They made their judgment, obviously (Brooks) made contact to the head. So going to trust what the refs did.”
Payton’s injury is a significant loss for the Warriors in this series. The 29-year-old had been tasked with primarily guarding Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who went on to score a playoff-high 47 points in Memphis’ win.
