Brooks slows down Curry
Brooks, Thompson trade words after game
Dillon Brooks helped fuel the Memphis Grizzlies' win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, but the Warriors were in no mood to entertain his twoway effort.
At the end of the Grizzlies' 133-119 victory at Fedexforum, Klay Thompson was fed up with Brooks yelling "You suck" from the Grizzlies' bench. So Thompson counted off four fingers towards Brooks and the Grizzlies' bench.
It indicated the four championships he's won and was a similar gesture he did towards Phoenix Suns All-star Devin Booker earlier this season. But Thompson didn't stop there, dismissing Brooks further postgame.
"I don't care about Dillon Brooks," Thompson told The Commercial Appeal. "When he retires, I don't think
As the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors prepared to start the second half Saturday night at Fedexforum, starters slowly scattered onto the floor.
While the other nine players walked onto the floor and waited for the referees before getting in their offensive or defensive positions, Dillon Brooks of the Grizzlies was focusing on Warriors star Steph Curry. From there, Brooks followed Curry's every step within inches of him as if he was his shadow.
Brooks was as locked into his matchup as any this season, and the numbers reflected it. He held Curry to 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting, and the Grizzlies defeated the Warriors 133-119.
It was the first time Curry had been held under 20 points since the Warriors (36-36) had a 31-point blowout win against the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 13. You'd have to go back to Dec. 5 for the last time Curry was held under 20 points while eclipsing 30 minutes.
The Grizzlies (43-27) had Brooks as Curry's primary defender most of the game.
“Just being obsessed about him,” Brooks said on his mindset guarding Curry. “Watching film. Just understanding his whole game. The whole gameplan. I love playing against him. He's a competitor. I don't think he likes the way I operate, but it's working, so he's going to have to figure out how to score on me.”
Brooks' performance against Curry should only strengthen his chance to make an All-defensive team for the first time in his career. Brooks has carved out a role as one of the NBA'S true villains, but whether you like him or not, his defensive performances are becoming hard to ignore.
It was Brooks who held Shai Gilgeous-alexander under 30 points twice when the rest of the NBA didn't have answers over a 12-game stretch. Zion Williamson was voted an NBA All-star starter because of his dominant start to the season, but Brooks led two of the best performances against him, including one game where Williamson had a career-high nine turnovers.
Brooks has now matched up against Curry twice, and his ability to limit Curry's shots while also staying attached to one of the NBA'S most lethal off-ball movers was impressive. Curry scored 29 points in the previous Grizzlies-warriors matchup, but only 10 of those and six shot attempts came in the second half when Brooks asked Grizzles coach Taylor Jenkins to match up his minutes with Curry.
“This guy absolutely cares about defense,” Jenkins said. “The numbers don't lie, the film doesn't lie. I think it's a
anyone will ever talk about Dillon Brooks ever again. I promise you. It's sweet right now, but wait 10 years."
Brooks took Thompson's gestures in stride as competitive banter. With a hoarse voice, he commended what the Warriors have done the past 10 years and said the Grizzlies are using it as fuel.
"He's got four rings. That's all he was saying. It's motivation to us," Brooks said. "We want a ring as well. Being able to go through the process of steps that we did last year, we keep going and learning from it all. It's friendly trash talk, but I just hold a lot of real estate over there in San Francisco."
Both teams have split their regularseason series with the home team winning each of the four games.
Stephen Curry didn't want to discuss Brooks individually but singled out the Grizzlies' collective effort. Both teams played on the second night of a backto-back but the Grizzlies made 18 3pointers to the Warriors' 13.
Curry shot 5-for-15 with 16 points, while Brooks had 18 points and was 4for-4 on 3-pointers.
"We played the whole Memphis Grizzlies, not just him," Curry said when asked about Brooks guarding him.
The teams met last season in the playoffs with the Warriors winning in six games in the semifinals. When the teams met on Christmas Day, Thompson drew a technical foul after yelling in Brooks' direction while running downcourt.
On March 9, Curry and Draymond Green later dismissed the Grizzlies as a rival after the Grizzlies won at Fedexforum.
The Grizzlies, however, still see the Warriors as something to shoot for. There's a chance both teams might meet in the first round of the playoffs, so time will tell if things continue for a second consecutive postseason.