Dillon Brooks declared after the Memphis Grizzlies' 103-93 win over the LA Lakers in Game 2 that he is all about poking bears. He literally did that against LeBron James on Saturday night, which forced the referees to toss him out of the game.
Brooks pressured James from the backcourt and hit the four-time MVP in the groin as James dribbled behind his back. "King James" quickly went down in a heap after the contact.
Upon review, Brooks was assessed with a flagrant foul 2 and was ejected from the game.
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After being down by as much as 26, the Memphis Grizzlies were starting to get back into the game when the incident happened. The foul and ejection stopped their momentum and rhythm, allowing the LA Lakers to continue padding their lead.
Despite all his talk after Game 2, Brooks was almost a non-factor in tonight's game. He had already played 19 minutes in Game 3 before the flagrant foul 2 on LeBron James and subsequent ejection. Brooks exited early after having tallied seven points on 3-13 shooting, including 1-5 from behind the arc.
A few of Brooks' shots were wide-open 3-pointers, which the LA Lakers were willing to concede. The Lakers were daring him to shoot instead of allowing Ja Morant a freeway to get into the lane.
LeBron James didn't want to get into a war of words with Dillon Brooks before the game, but he did approach him before tipoff. The two had a conversation before the LA Lakers superstar resumed his warmup with a thunderous dunk.
After the game, "King James" had this to say about Brooks' hit:
"We just focused on the game plan. There's a lot of game to be played when that incident happened. I just tried to get up, protect my crown jewels and move on to the next play."
Brooks talked too much heading into the game but lost his composure. LeBron James wanted to let his basketball talk for him and led the Lakers to a 2-1 series lead.
Also read: What is a flagrant 2 foul in the NBA?
Fans reacted to Dillon Brooks' ejection
Fans quickly sent in their thoughts after Dillon Brooks' hit on LeBron James. One fan wasn't very shy about this suggestion:
"tell lebron ill massage it!!! anything for king LeLe"
After giving LeBron James and the LA Lakers plenty of bulletin material before Game 3, Brooks decided not to talk anymore. Memphis' brash guard/forward also has a history of unsportsmanlike fouls. The NBA could suspend him after reviewing the hit against James.
Also read: How many times has Dillon Brooks been ejected from NBA games?
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