Lakers defend Jarred Vanderbilt for run-in with Dillon Brooks،
HOUSTON – After Jarred Vanderbilt was ejected in the first half of Monday's 135-119 loss to the Houston Rockets for an altercation with Dillon Brooks, several members of the Los Angeles Lakers defended Vanderbilt's actions against the forward restless from Houston.
Brooks fouled Vanderbilt on a dunk with 11:03 left in the second quarter while Vanderbilt was in the air. Shortly after, Brooks shoved Vanderbilt with his arm while under the rim as Austin Reaves made a jump shot with 10:17 left in the second. Vanderbilt responded by poking Brooks in the chest with his forearm, prompting a technical foul from referee Eric Dalen.
A moment later, Vanderbilt put his finger on the side of Brooks' head and was evaluated by another technician by crew chief Curtis Blair and ejected from the game. A Lakers player told ESPN that Brooks called Vanderbilt a “p—y” during the trade.
“He’s going to do a wide open dunk and [Brooks] I just pushed him in the back,” Anthony Davis said. “It's not a safe play. Guys get hurt like that. And you need to know what type of player [Brooks] East. [The referees] somehow let it continue and [Brooks] It sort of provoked him. He speaks and says what he wants to the referees, to the players and at the end of the day, we are men.
No man will speak to another man the way he spoke to Vando. So Vando did what he had to do.”
Vanderbilt left without speaking to reporters.
Brooks said Vanderbilt escalated the confrontation. “I feel like maybe he feels like I made a dirty play,” Brooks said. “When he feels like that, he likes to bump. It's basketball. We bump and fight. I feel like he went a little too far.”
After Vanderbilt's ejection, with the Lakers leading 46-36 early in the second quarter, the Rockets took control, pushing their lead to 30 points midway through the third. LA, trailing by 24 heading into Game 4, tried to make a push with LeBron James remaining in the game despite the Lakers traveling to Atlanta for the second night in a row on Tuesday.
The Lakers trailed by 16 with 5:45 left when Jae'Sean Tate missed a layup and Brooks came back on James' back on the rebound attempt, hitting the Lakers star in the face. After a video review by officials, Brooks was penalized for a flagrant foul 1 for contact. James, who credited Brooks' competitive fire when asked earlier this season about the lucrative contract Brooks signed in Houston, cut short a reporter's question about Brooks after the game.
“Next question,” James said.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said Brooks' push on Vanderbilt and the hit on James were enough to warrant an ejection alone, in his opinion.
“Being competitive is one thing,” Ham said. “But… putting players at risk of injury with certain plays – I just watched it again [on video] before coming here, [Brooks] he pushes him in the back, a guy who is in the air. Airborne, defenseless. Then Bron's play, Bron goes to the basket and it's a double move with his arms. One arm tries to deflect the ball and it goes backwards then it crosses [James’] confront.
“So maybe Dillon Brooks shouldn’t have been in the game either.”
Davis echoed his coach's views on both plays.
“I mean, you're committing a serious mistake,” Davis said. “It's part of basketball, but you're just not going to openly shove someone in the back when they have no control over their body and they're in the air. And he should have get kicked out for that. And then you know him and Bron. have their [collision] and from what I saw, it was just a blatant blow to LeBron in the face.”
Ham added, “Hats off to Vando,” for the way he responded when confronting Brooks.
Brooks told reporters that he continues to bring an “alpha dog mentality” to games and has made adjustments to the way he controls himself since leaving the Memphis Grizzlies and joining the Rockets .
“Last year I went too far,” Brooks said. “Now I feel like I'm in control. It just brings the energy of knowing that some things you do, you can go too far. And play within the limits.”
