LeBron James dominates Dillon Brooks and Grizzlies

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Lakers forward LeBron James powers his way past Grizzlies guard Ja Morant to score a basket during the third quarter Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Dillon Brooks did more than poke a bear, he jabbed a finger into the face of an entire city.

Los Angeles poked back. LeBron James fought back. The Lakers stormed back.

Three days after James absorbed some of the most pointed personal insults of his polarizing career, Crypto.com Arena came alive Saturday with swift response and scintillating revenge.

The fans booed the Memphis Grizzlies’ trash-talking Brooks into oblivion. They cheered the offended James into a lather. They wouldn’t sit down and they wouldn’t shut up, and by the time they caught their breath, their Lakers had sprinted to the greatest playoff first quarter in franchise history, streaking to a 35-9 lead and eventually rolling to a 111-101 victory to take a two-games-to-one lead in this first-round playoff series.

“It was amazing,” said James, who was so emotionally drained he yawned his way through the postgame interview. “It was amazing.”

The winner of Game 3 in a tied series advances 73% of the time. But if the Crypto.com Arena crowd remains 100% invested, and the Lakers continue to 100% feed off that, this one feels about 100% over.

The Grizzlies have no consistent answer for Anthony Davis, no consistent match for the Lakers’ depth and now, a giant fat lip applied to the reckless mouth of one overmatched Brooks.

While James claimed he wasn’t intent on making a statement — “I’ve been doing this too long; I’ve made enough statements” — he nonetheless made a boldfaced one with 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Brooks, meanwhile, was so flummoxed, he missed 10 of 13 shots before being ejected in the first minute of the second half for swatting James in the groin.

It was a cheap shot consistent with the verbal sucker punches Brooks had earlier hurled in James’ direction. The low blows occurred Wednesday night, after Memphis’ victory in Game 2, during Brooks’ locker room interview.

First, he called James “old.”

Second, he said James…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/column-bear-pokes-back-lebron-113036063.html?src=rss

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2023-04-23 11:30:36

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