NBA Rumors:How Malaki Branham & Gary Payton II Injuries Affect The Spurs and Warriors

NBA Rumors:How Malaki Branham & Gary Payton II Injuries Affect The Spurs and Warriors

NBA Rumors:How Malaki Branham &

Gary Payton II Injuries Affect The Spurs and Warriors

Wednesday night during the San Antonio

Spurs’ 106-98 loss to the Memphis

Grizzlies in the first quarter. Branham,

who finished with two points on one of

five shots, did not return to the game. In

his one and a half minutes of action, he

also grabbed one rebound, assisted one, and committed one turnover.

According to Tom Osborne of the San

Antonio Express, Branham’s injury is not

considered severe. But he will likely get re-evaluated today.

The Spurs have been ready to overlook

the 20-year-old’s errors as he attempts to

get used to playing point guard after he started the season off the bench.

During his one and only year at Ohio

State, Branham was known as a scorer.

He briefly filled the position of lead

guard last season, but it looks like he will play that role going forward.

Branham has started 18 of the past 19

games, though he is only averaging 23.6

minutes a game over this stretch. He

averages 9.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5

assists, and 1.5 turnovers while

compiling a shooting slash line of

.438/.333/.917 in these contests.

The main problem for Branham is his

defense; he is not quick enough to guard

point guards. His perimeter play this

season has improved significantly as

well; when he is the primary defender,

opponents shoot 57.6% from the field

and 50% from three. Last season,

opponents made over 51% of their field

goal attempts against him but only 35% of their 3-pointers.

How The Spurs Could Replace Branham

Branham is considered day-to-day,

though that may change as their

Thursday game against Milwaukee gets

closer. However, it would be a shock if

Branham didn’t miss at least a game.

Even before Branham suffered the

injury, San Antonio was already

shorthanded. Backup center Charles

Bassey is out for the season, and Zach

Collins is slated to miss 2-to-4 weeks with an ankle injury.

Tre Jones is expected to take over as the

starting lineup member if Branham is

sidelined due to an injury. Jones is

among the league’s best backup point

guards. Nonetheless, Jones made an

appearance in 68 games, starting 65 of

them, and he set career highs in almost

every statistic. This included assists (6.6)

and points per game (12.9). The largest criticism of J

Blake Wesley, who set several season-

highs last night, may also see an uptick in

minutes. Wesley scored 10 points on 5 of

8 shooting and came up with two steals in a season-high 21 minutes.

Gary Payton II Out For Several Weeks

Golden State Warriors reserve guard

Gary Payton II will be sidelined for

several weeks after straining his left

hamstring, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

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