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Dave McMenamin
PHOENIX — Just moments after Dillon Brooks‘ talents helped lead a furious 20-point Phoenix Suns comeback in the fourth quarter Sunday — as he hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left — his temperament caused the momentum to swing right back in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ favor.
Following his clutch 3, Brooks went chest-to-chest with his old nemesis, LeBron James, and was called for a technical foul — his second of the game — and ejected.
James went 2-for-4 from the line on the Lakers’ following possession — missing the tech, but then getting fouled by Devin Booker on a 3 and hitting two of the attempts with 3.0 seconds left — and then blocked Grayson Allen‘s final shot to secure a 116-114 win for L.A.
It was the latest installment in a rivalry that’s been brewing since the 2023 playoffs, when Brooks — who is 11 years younger than James —referred to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as «old» and proudly declared, «I poke bears.»
James, who turns 41 later this month, turned in another age-defying performance Sunday, finishing with 26 points, four assists, two steals, two blocks and withstanding the missed free throws (and his eight turnovers) to seal the victory.
«I just like to compete,» James said of the matchup with Brooks. «He’s going to compete. I’m going to compete. We’re going to get up in each other’s face. Try not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we’re just competing and did that almost all the way to the end of the game.»
When asked if he exaggerated Brooks’ contact with him with 12.2 seconds left to get the referees’ attention so a tech would be called, James said the infraction was clear.
«That’s definitely a tech,» James said. «If it was a tech on me in the [third quarter], then it was a tech on him right here, too.»
Indeed, James was called for a tech barely a minute into the second half for bodying up Brooks after Luka Doncic fouled the Suns’ enforcer.
Just like how Brooks was called for his first tech barely a minute into the game for repeatedly shoving James while they battled for position for a rebound.
In a pool report after the game, crew chief Tyler Ford explained that Brooks’ second technical foul was called «for making unsportsmanlike contact during the dead ball.»
Brooks, who finished with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting but was limited to just 25 minutes because he picked up five fouls besides the two techs, left the arena without speaking to reporters.
«In terms of the back-and-forth,» Lakers coach JJ Redick said of James and Brooks, «our group was unaffected by it.»
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who was on the team when L.A. and the Memphis Grizzlies played in the first round of the postseason in 2023 and Brooks’ antagonization began, seemed bemused by Sunday’s results.
«S—, I don’t know, he brought his antics,» Vanderbilt said of Brooks. «Tonight, it cost him.»
Booker, who returned from a three-game absence because of a groin strain to lead Phoenix with 27 points and seven assists, supported his teammate’s approach.
«Yeah, I mean there’s history there,» Booker said. «I love to see it. People always say everything’s too friendly in the NBA and then Dillon comes around and now it’s too much. So like I said, I’d rather it the other way — that it’d be too much.»
What Booker didn’t agree with was his foul on James’ 3-pointer in the waning seconds that allowed the Lakers’ 23-year veteran to win it at the foul line.
«I mean there’s history there. I love to see it. People always say everything’s too friendly in the NBA and then Dillon comes around and now it’s too much. So like I said, I’d rather it the other way — that it’d be too much.»
Devin Booker
«I got to check the rule book,» Booker said. «I’ve always been told the hand’s part of the ball.»
The pool report also addressed Booker’s foul, and Ford said the Suns star «made illegal contact to the right wrist of James.»
James missed the first of the three, then hit the next two to turn a one-point deficit into a one-point lead.
«Make them,» James said of his mindset in the final seconds. «Just go up there and make ‘em and then get a stop.»
