LeBron James came up clutch for the Lakers tonight as they won 116-114 against the Suns. Following the win, the Lakers reporter Mike Trudell asked James on the sidelines about his matchup with Dillon Brooks and the resulting physicality in the game.
“Nothing, just competing. That’s all it’s about, competing. It’s the best form of competition; it’s the big boys. This is the NBA, no boys allowed. So it’s all about competition, we were out there competing, and were able to get the last laugh,” James said.
Subsequently, he went to the locker room and addressed the media scrum, where he also spoke about Brooks.
“He’s going to compete. I’m going to compete. We’re going to get up in each other’s faces. Tried not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we just competed. And did that almost all the way to the end of the game,” concluded James.
LeBron James and Dillon Brooks have a lot of history together, dating back to the 2023 NBA Playoffs when Brooks was on the Grizzlies. Therefore, the duo was at loggerheads with each other throughout the game.
From shoving to yelling, to Brooks’ eventual ejection from the court, this duo played some extremely physical basketball tonight.
James finished the game with 26 points, three rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals while shooting 47.1% from the floor. He nailed two out of his three crucial free throws with 3.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter to regain a 115-114 lead, before Marcus Smart hit another free throw to make it a 116-114 win for the Lakers.
Meanwhile, Dillon Brooks was ejected for intentionally bumping into LeBron James and consequently receiving his second technical foul in the game. He finished the game with 18 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal while shooting 66.7% from the field (6-of-9).
The Suns had completed a comeback from a 20-point deficit (79-99 early in the fourth quarter) after making a 27-12 run to cut the game close with less than two minutes left. But then LeBron James proved that resilience and a calm mind under pressure always help, instead of letting your emotions get the best of you.
The Lakers have now improved their record to 18-7 after this nervy win and will face the Jazz on Thursday, December 18. On the other hand, the Suns have fallen to 14-12 for the season and will not host the Warriors on Thursday as well.
