When Golden State forward Draymond Green got a flagrant 2 foul in Game 1 of the Warriors' Western Conference semifinal series against Memphis, Green was ejected but not suspended the next game. However, Green's flagrant 2 was much tamer than the one the Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks committed on the Dubs' Gary Payton II in Game 2. Brooks also was ejected and has been suspended for Game 3 on Saturday night in San Francisco. Some books pushed the spread from Warriors -6.5 to -7.

It does seem that the NBA is now taking injuries into account regarding flagrant fouls and suspensions – see the Bucks' Grayson Allen and his foul this season on the Bulls' Alex Caruso that resulted in Caruso breaking his wrist. Payton fractured his elbow on the Brooks foul early in Game 2 and is probably out until at least the NBA Finals if the Warriors get there. It's a big loss defensively for Golden State as Payton had been a key defender on Ja Morant.

Brooks was chasing down Payton from behind on a fast-break layup when he hit the Warriors guard in the head in the air with 9:08 left in the first quarter. The NBA announced Thursday that Brooks made "unnecessary and excessive contact" on Payton. Brooks was limited to just 32 games in the regular season due to injury but was the club's second-leading scorer at 18.4 ppg. In the postseason, he's down to 13.4 ppg, fifth on the team, but is a good defender as well. Ziaire Williams and De'Anthony Melton should see more time in Game 3 sans Brooks.

Memphis could get back center Steven Adams, though. Adams was placed in the league's COVID protocols prior to Game 6 against Minnesota, which was April 29. Even if Adams is cleared, his minutes figure to be limited Saturday with all that time away. He had fallen out of the rotation in the Timberwolves series for matchup reasons but figured to be a part of it against Golden State.

Green, incidentally, flipped off the fans in Memphis in Game 2 when leaving the court following an injury to his eye but there was no chance he would be suspended for that – Green was fined $25K. Andre Iguodala remains out injured for Golden State. 

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