Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Houston Rockets and the matchup didn't disappoint. LeBron James scored a season-high 37 points and helped the Lakers secure a 105-104 victory over the Rockets. Plus, if last night taught us anything, it's that the LeBron James and Dillon Brooks rivalry is alive and well.
Early in the third quarter, LeBron was issued a technical for shoving Brooks. Later on in that same quarter, LeBron made an extremely difficult running floater look effortless, even with Brooks' solid contest. After he hit that shot over Dillon, LeBron had some fun with the Lakers bench before getting back on defense.
Per Overtime on Twitter:
Despite the pageantry, the "you're too small.", and the "you're washed up." comments, LeBron and Dillon Brooks don't share as much bad blood as one might think. In fact, it surprisingly seems there's a lot of respect there. After the game, LeBron said he likes competing against Brooks. James told ESPN, "He's a great competitor. I like going against him. And he was hooping tonight for sure. He shot the ball exceptionally well and kept them in the game."
To go along with hitting a season-high six 3-pointers, Brooks scored 24 points and led the way for the Rockets offensively. Since both players recorded season-highs in scoring, Brooks with 3-pointers made, and LeBron with points scored, it could definitely be argued the two elevate each other's game whenever they face off.
Two games ago, the Rockets were on a six-game winning streak. Now, it seems the Rockets' red-hot start is fading, as they just lost their second straight game to a Western Conference team. The Rockets are currently 6-5. Rockets head coach Ime Udokah said after the game, "I liked how we battled back and kept fighting. We just didn't play smart at the end." Lakers coach Darvin Ham said after the game, "That's the LeBron we've all come to know and love over these 21 years." The Lakers won their second straight and improved to 8-6 on the year.
