During practice before Game 3 of the finals, Stephen Curry unintentionally smacked the ball on Gary Payton II’s face just a split moment after missing an alley-oop.
Advertisement
The Warriors managed to level the NBA Finals 1-game apiece before flying to Boston to play Games 3 & 4 against the Celtics at the TD Garden. And Stephen Curry will punish everyone who isn’t on their A-game during practice for the clash tomorrow night. Unfortunately for Gary Payton II, he has been a victim of one of Steph’s punishments.
During a practice shootaround at the Garden, GSW coach Steve Kerr tossed up an alley-oop for GPII. Now, the two-way star is pretty explosive on the court, however, surprisingly, the 6-foot-3 defensive guard ended up missing the wide-open dunk.
Immediately after Payton II missed the dunk, Curry’s half-court shot attempt ended up smacking him on his face.
GP2 missed the alley-oop from Kerr and was pelted by a basketball pic.twitter.com/4xFzwhIBu5
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 7, 2022
Yikes! That got to hurt.
Also Read: Draymond Green teases Warriors teammate over his HILARIOUS comments on Game-6 Klay
NBA Twitter reacts as Stephen Curry smacks Gary Payton II on his face with a ball
As soon as the clip went viral, NBA Twitter blew up with reactions.
Kerr felt his pain
— Kaaf30 (@kaafcole) June 7, 2022
MJ starved his teammates.
Steph gives them a concussion.
Levels— Advait Jajodia (@AdvaitJajodia) June 8, 2022
Yho I’d cry that’s size 8 ball https://t.co/SoORMQc3C0
— (@Nobathwa_) June 8, 2022
@Warriors need to give helmets to their players during practice https://t.co/xWPOXCZ80N
— It is a Spade (@itisaspade) June 8, 2022
Jokes apart, as a unit the Warriors seem pretty confident in themselves despite being on the road. Certainly, they’d need Payton to have a huge game on the defensive end and contribute offensively as well.