Warriors: Dillon Brooks flagrant foul should come as no surprise
After Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors‘ second round series, Memphis big man Brandon Clarke said he “wasn’t really shocked” about the play that resulted in the ejection of Draymond Green late in the second quarter.
Fast-forward to Game 2, another marred by a flagrant two ejection, the Golden State Warriors should share the same mentality as that of Clarke after game 1.
In the early minutes of game two, Dillon Brooks wound up and nailed an unaware Gary Payton II as he attempted what appeared like an open layup. The play saw Brooks immediately ejected from the contest and has left Payton’s season in jeopardy with a fractured left elbow.
When we take a deep dive into the two teams, the Warriors have a distinct talent advantage from an individual player sense. In Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, Golden State has three of the best four offensive players in the series (at least according to points per game this season).
Regardless of the immense potential of Jaren Jackson Jr on the defensive end, he’s still prone to brain-fading fouls that quickly rack up and regularly result in early exits. This leaves the experienced, more well-renowned Draymond Green as the best defensive player in the series. Then All-Star starter Andrew Wiggins enters the conversation, while both team’s bench and depth is largely similar.
It means Memphis needs an edge to try and win this series. One of these aspects is physicality, a facet the Warriors alluded to even prior to the Brooks foul in game two. Physicality and grunt work can show up in the smaller, but vitally important statistics like forced turnovers, offensive rebounds and subsequent second-chance points.
Klay Thompson expects the Grizzlies to be extremely physical tonight: “But I’m a big guard. I love that stuff. It doesn’t phase me…We’ve been there. I played a Grizzlies team back in 2015 that was very physical.” pic.twitter.com/A6GoYqoDbS
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 3, 2022
The Grizzlies need to play on the edge when it comes to their physicality. Aside from outrageous, special performances from Ja Morant (like we saw in game two), it’s hard to envisage them winning this series without making the Warriors feel very uncomfortable.
When you’re playing on the edge and are in the battle of an all-or-nothing playoff series, it’s much easier to cross the line or in Steve Kerr’s words, “break the code”. That’s not at all to excuse Brooks’ inexplicable play, but more so that it should come as no surprise. Then you add in Brooks’ reputation as a hard-nosed physical defender who’s more unwilling than mostGrizz to give up easy baskets.
How Steve Kerr and the Warriors respond is serious cause for intrigue, with any counter, or lack thereof, likely to determine the fate of the series.