NBA playoffs: Dillon Brooks' trash talk backfired vs. Lakers, and now the Grizzlies face huge hurdle

LOS ANGELES — If poking living legends is going to be Dillon Brooks’ game plan, it would be wise to hang around for an entire game instead of actually poking living legends.

The Crypto.com Arena crowd was on Brooks from the moment he got off the team bus, booing and chanting. He didn’t stick around for the duration of the Lakers’ 111-101 Game 3 win Saturday night, courtesy of an ejection in the first 15 seconds of the second half when he punched LeBron James in the groin.

He talked big leading up to Game 3, as is custom for this Grizzlies team. But they again failed to show up to a big game on the road, giving the hometown faithful that haven’t seen a sellout playoff home game in a decade something to cheer about.

Brooks declined comment in the hallway after the game, saying “I’m good,” as he walked past a handful of reporters, so he wasn’t able to defend his actions or his play. His teammates backed him up in the postgame, claiming the hit wasn’t one of intention but that he was going for a steal in the backcourt on James that went awry.

But nobody could say why Brooks’ fist was balled up in the moment and why there was so much force exerted if he were reaching for a steal. It would be impossible for Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Luke Kennard to get inside Brooks’ head in that moment, or try to predict how the league office will move forward.

“With how they treat Dillon, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is [suspended],” Morant said. “I feel like he was ejected because of past ejections in games before. If you look at the play, he was reaching for the ball.

“Flagrant one? OK. But ejection, I don’t agree with it at all. It’s out of my hands. I hope we have him for Game 4. … My pops always told me, ‘It’s no friends inside those four lines.’ He doesn’t lack that confidence and people see that. He gets booed everywhere we go. It’s not that [lack of] respect for anybody.”

Golden State’s Draymond Green was suspended, of course, for his stomp on Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, with Green’s past transgressions being factored into the league’s decision.

Philadelphia’s James Harden was ejected but not suspended for his similar hit on Brooklyn’s Royce O’Neale in Game 3 of the 76ers-Nets series — one that mercifully ended in a sweep Saturday.

If the Grizzlies aren’t careful, they’ll be goin’ fishing real soon. Brooks’ shot, intentional or not, was the only force the Grizzlies exerted in an environment that required plenty of it, along with poise and maturity.

Brooks calling out James put the target on the team’s collective backs. They should’ve been prepared for an all-out, emotional blitz from the Lakers who were bent on capitalizing on the moment.

James nearly waded into the waters of firing back at Brooks in the postgame, but stopped himself short, only alluding to a number of vocal opposers who stood across from him with antics or nonsense through the years.

One doesn’t have to think hard to remember Lance Stephenson, DeShawn Stevenson, Jason Terry or rival-turned-ally Green chirping at James. Everyone who chirped didn’t suffer the same fate, but James usually got his pound of flesh.

Add Brooks to the list.

Not only were the Grizzlies not prepared to play, they weren’t prepared for Anthony Davis. Davis would not have a repeat of his subpar Game 2 performance and the Lakers are following his lead in that department.

More and more, he’s becoming that player his talent demands and if the West is truly open, Davis will have to do more heavy lifting especially to conserve James’ energy for late-game control.

Davis finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks, but it certainly felt like he had an even greater effect, especially after the Grizzlies’ big men energized their Game 2 win in Memphis.

They jumped on the Grizzlies immediately, taking a 26-point lead and overwhelming a team that seems to bark like big dogs but turn into cuddly house cats when someone responds in kind.

It wasn’t just that the Grizzlies were offensively inept — those things happen in playoff settings, random games where nobody can hit anything occur more often than it seems — but they looked shook, like the moment was too big for them.

Like they weren’t a No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. They scored nine points, shot 3 of 25 in the first quarter with six turnovers, watching the Lakers pump up a thirsty crowd, barely looking back.

“A lot of guys struggled tonight,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “Our offense significantly impacted our defensive ability, but the way our guys fought in quarters two, three and four showed a lot of great resiliency. We got to learn to get better from these adversities and get the best out of us.”

Jenkins is technically correct. He and Morant both pointed out they outscored the Lakers in the last three quarters after spotting them such a large advantage, but the tone was set in the opening minutes.

Morant was questionable leading into the game because of the right hand injury he suffered in Game 1, and he missed Game 2. He finished with a flurry to make the final score closer than the game was, putting up 22 straight in the fourth and finishing with 45 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds.

Brooks was preoccupied with the crowd, Jaren Jackson Jr. had his hands full with Davis, and Bane didn’t get going until after halftime.

“First game at home, they’re gonna come out with some swagger and some force,” Bane said. “I’ve been struggling all series with fouls, taking myself off the floor and out of my rhythm. When you’re not making shots and you’re turning the ball over and they get transition opportunities, you know, that’s where they thrive.”

So it was Morant and Morant alone, and even James complimented him in the postgame, saying how Morant hitting 3s opened up his game and made him hard to stop.

James also quietly mentioned his playoff exploits, like scoring 29 of 30 points in the Eastern Conference finals against Detroit some 16 years ago, within the context of talking about Morant.

“In that fourth quarter, I was trying to win the game,” Morant said. “I got it going, making shots. But I couldn’t get us over the hump.”

Now, they face a much bigger hump, both from within and from a Lakers team that’s suddenly smelling blood.