Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley received an elbow from C.J. McCollum and suffered a facial fracture in Game 3 of the team’s first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers. He underwent surgery to repair the fracture and had been sidelined for three games to recover from the injury, but returned to action on Tuesday night.
It didn’t take long before his surgically-repaired fractured face was tested in the team’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
Conley drove to the basket in the second quarter of the game, but ran into a flurry of Warriors defenders, lost control and ended up falling to the floor.
The Grizzlies guard then called timeout—which was awarded to him—but Draymond Green reached in anyway in an attempt to jar the ball loose. Green swatted at the ball with one hand, while he delivered a shot to Conley’s face with the other.
No foul was called on the play. Conley stayed down for a while and eventually made his way to the bench, but checked in on the possession that followed. And while there’s no way to discern if the contact from Green was intentional, it sure looks like he targeted Conley’s surgically-repaired fractured face.
It’s probably worth mentioning that Conley started the game out hot—hitting five of his first six shots. It sure seems like Green attempted to cool him off with a cheap shot.
[Vine]
