LOS ANGELES — If poking living legends is going to be Dillon Brooks’ game plan, it would be wise to hang around for an entire game instead of actually poking living legends.
The Crypto.com Arena crowd was on Brooks from the moment he got off the team bus, booing and chanting. He didn’t stick around for the duration of the Lakers’ 111-101 Game 3 win Saturday night, courtesy of an ejection in the first 15 seconds of the second half when he punched LeBron James in the groin.
He talked big leading up to Game 3, as is custom for this Grizzlies team. But they again failed to show up to a big game on the road, giving the hometown faithful that haven’t seen a sellout playoff home game in a decade something to cheer about.
Brooks declined comment in the hallway after the game, saying “I’m good,” as he walked past a handful of reporters, so he wasn’t able to defend his actions or his play. His teammates backed him up in the postgame, claiming the hit wasn’t one of intention but that he was going for a steal in the backcourt on James that went awry.
But nobody could say why Brooks’ fist was balled up in the moment and why there was so much force exerted if he were reaching for a steal. It would be impossible for Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Luke Kennard to get inside Brooks’ head in that moment, or try to predict how the league office will move forward.
“With how they treat Dillon, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is [suspended],” Morant said. “I feel like he was ejected because of past ejections in games before. If you look at the play, he was reaching for the ball.
“Flagrant one? OK. But ejection, I don’t agree with it at all. It’s out of my hands. I hope we have him for Game 4. … My pops always told me, ‘It’s no friends inside those four lines.’ He doesn’t lack that confidence and people see that. He gets booed everywhere we go. It’s not that [lack of] respect for anybody.”
Golden State’s Draymond Green was suspended, of course, for his stomp on Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, with Green’s past transgressions being factored into the league’s decision.
Philadelphia’s James Harden was ejected but not suspended for…