Memphis Grizzlies swingman Dillon Brooks spent a lot of time last night defending Los Angeles Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron James. Breaking by 121 (barely), the Brooks were heavily criticized by certain courtside media personalities, but the Memphis wing more than held its own against the King.
Brooks pestered James for a pretty inefficient scoring night. In 36:32, James scored “exactly” 23 points on 8 of 21 (1 of 5 of 3) shooting from the floor and 6 of 7 shooting from the free throw line. Thanks in part to Brooks, James is well below his normal shooting efficiency (50.6% down on him from the floor this year) and his points per game (29.6). LBJ grabbed nine rebounds, passed on nine dimes, stole two steals, and denied two shots.
After the game, Brooks told reporters about Shannon Sharp’s turmoil and how he got James well below his scoring and shooting averages.
“He doesn’t want to go left,” Brooks revealed. “I had him go left all the way through the game. Then he would either settle down or pass the ball. That’s my way, that’s my way.” [do] … I have to physically play with him, keep bumping him all the time and not let him shoot easily. ”
James half compromised as the other Lakers (in this case Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schrader) ultimately had to beat Memphis.
