On May 4, Beijing time, the Golden State Warriors ushered in the second game of the semifinals with the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Warriors coach Kerr continued to use the starting lineup of the first game, allowing Peyton Jr., Curry, Klay, Wiggins and Dream Green to serve as the starting five Tigers, and payton Jr. (8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block) who played all-round data in the first semifinals left the game early due to injuries shortly after the start of today's game.
At 9 minutes and 08 seconds in the first quarter, Ding was fouled by Dillon Brooks during a breakthrough layup, and the replay showed that Dillon pulled him during Payton Jr.'s layup and hit him in the head in the air, which made Dillon be punished by the referee for a second-degree malicious foul and was expelled. This also made The Young Payton's stats in this game frozen in 2 minutes and 52 seconds, 1 of 2 free throws, only 2 points were recorded. Without Payton Jr., the defensive tough guy, the Warriors also let the Grizzlies minor owner Morant open the scoring in the next step, the latter frantically cut 47 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in this game, and the Warriors eventually lost to the opponent 101-106, and the total score was equalized by the Grizzlies 1-1, making the two sides back to the same running line.
Shortly after the end of the game, according to the Warriors and team reporter Kendra Andrews reported that the Warriors were injured at the beginning of this game and left the game, Payton Jr. suffered a left elbow fracture and will undergo MRI's MRI tomorrow, and then the Warriors officially confirmed the news, if it is really an injury such as a fracture, The little Peyton's playoff trip is probably going to end here. It was hard to gain such a defensive player in this series, but the Warriors suffered such a "sunny thunderbolt" just after the semifinals, and they were really not optimistic about the team's prospects after that.
It is worth mentioning that this is also the 29-year-old Peyton Jr. NBA career for the first time to playoffs, in Kerr's full trust, he did not live up to the ardent expectations of the coaching staff, these games played down, he in 18 minutes of playing time, he can average 7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1 steal 0.8 blocks, shooting rate as high as a terrifying 72.7% At the same time, the three-point shooting rate of 75% is the first in the league, under the Warriors' tactical system, it is difficult to find their own foothold But this malicious foul by Dillon will also cast a shadow on his next career.
With only 1.98 million base salary contracts this season, Payton Jr. will also face the reality of becoming a free agent in the offseason, and it is difficult to play the best performance of his career in the Warriors this season, and he has a good chance to win a good contract for himself next season, but this rising career momentum is completely destroyed by Dillon's dirty foul, which is indeed regrettable. The league also attaches great importance to Dillon's malicious foul, and according to ESPN earlier, the alliance will make a decision on whether to give Dillon additional penalties later.
This high probability of season reimbursement, not only for The Little Payton himself is a severe test, but also for the Warriors team, originally Little Payton is the best candidate for defending the core of the Grizzlies, morant, but this time if he really can't continue to play, the Warriors team may not find another defender suitable for him, Clay's injury has just healed, it is difficult to stick to Morant, and the veteran Iguodala is limited by age, and the defensive aggression is far from the courage of the year. In the case that the two defensive players can not make a corresponding contribution, the only child Peyton fell, the Warriors can only ask for more blessings.
The next 2 games will be moved to the Chase Center, the home of the Warriors, in the case of the absence of Peyton Jr., the team will face a great test on the defensive end, if there is no way to grasp this home advantage, the Warriors want to win this round of series, it is really fierce.