MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks has been suspended for Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors after his hard-foul ejection in Game 2.
Warriors guard Gary Payton II will miss approximately one month after fracturing his left elbow on the play.
Payton II received a pass, leading to a breakaway layup when Brooks came sprinting in and hit Payton II, causing him to fall to the floor hard.
It was deemed a flagrant foul 2, and Brooks was ejected.
NBA Hall of Famer and Warriors legend Rick Barry joined the Locked On Warriors podcast to give his thoughts on the Brooks/Payton II play and his thoughts on the series so far between the Warriors and Grizzlies.
Barry joins the show at the 15 minute mark Barry joins the show at the 15 minute mark
"As far as the play goes, he deserved to be thrown out of the game," Barry said on Locked On Warriors. "And unfortunately, it brought back bad memories for me because that's how I got hurt, I had torn cartilage. There is no business for (Brooks) to even try to make a play defensively on that play. He had no chance in the world to be able to block it...I couldn't believe he made that play."
Barry noted he missed 6-8 weeks on a similar play during his time in the NBA, calling it one of the stupidest plays you can make as a defender.
Now, with Payton II out, the Warriors need to worry about defense. Payton II is a strong defender and had a lot of responsibilities with Grizzlies star Ja Morant. How do the Warriors move forward defending Morant?
"It's disappointing, certainly it makes it tougher," Barry said. But nobody shuts someone down, there's no such thing as a lockdown defender on a scorer and Ja Morant is a scorer, nobody's locking him down. But, you can make him work harder and that's what Payton did a great job of. That's a misfortune. The reality of it is there is no way this Warriors basketball team, playing solid basketball on both ends of the court, shouldn't beat this Grizzlies team."
Check out the Locked On Warriors podcast for more thoughts from Barry and NBC Sports Bay Area writer Brian Witt on how Golden State can move forward and win their series against Memphis.