Grizzlies F Dillon Brooks Suspended For Game 3 After Hard Foul On Gary Payton, Jr.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks has been suspended for one game after getting called for a Flagrant 2 foul against Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton, Jr. on Tuesday.
In Game 2, Payton went for a layup, and Brooks came in for a late swipe. Payton then hit the ground hard and fractured his left elbow in the process. Brooks was ejected from the game.
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On Thursday, the NBA responded by suspending Brooks for Game 3 of the Memphis-Warriors series.
OutKick's ProFootballDoc relayed the injury update on Payton after the elbow fracture was officially announced.
"The expectation is a non-displaced radial head fracture where no surgery is needed but Payton would be forced to miss a minimum of 4-6 weeks," Dr. Chao reported, "which would end his season unless the Warriors can make it late into the NBA Finals."
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke about Brooks' hard foul after the game.
"I don't know if it was intentional, but it was dirty," Kerr said, facing a 2-1 series deficit with key defender Payton likely out for the remainder of the playoffs.
"Playoff basketball is supposed to be physical," he added. "Everybody's going to compete. Everybody's going to fight for everything, but there's a code in this league. There's a code that players follow, where you never put a guy's season/career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in mid-air and clubbing him across the head and ultimately fracturing Gary's elbow. ... He broke the code. Dillon broke the code. That's how I see it."
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