The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets on Sunday and LeBron James had another vintage performance.
During the victory, James was guarded by Rockets wing Dillon Brooks. The perimeter defender has developed a genuinely rocky relationship with James over the past few seasons. Their longstanding beef came to a head when the two players faced off in the playoffs last year.
Brooks, then with the Grizzlies, called James “old” and that probably wasn’t the best idea. James responded by convincingly winning the series and then took shots at Brooks and the Memphis organization on social media.
Brooks still hadn’t learned his lesson about trash-talking James, though, and he kept that same energy while on a new team in Houston.
Bron hit the “too small” celly after scoring on Brooks 😅🤣
(via @LADEig) pic.twitter.com/7AKSFrIPY6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 20, 2023
So whenever the two face off against each other now, James still brings the intensity of a recently poked bear. We saw that excitement when he scored on Brooks during the victory on Sunday.
After the basket, James broke out the “too small” celebration to say that Brooks doesn’t have what it takes to defend him.
So far this season, Brooks is the leader in possessions spent guarding James. Unfortunately for the Rockets, though, the results are not exactly in the favor of Brooks.
James is 10-of-15 (66.6 percent) on 2-pointers when Brooks is credited as the primary defender against him in 2023-24. James, however, has recorded three turnovers on these opportunities.
Either way, watching him use the “too small” celebration adds yet another moment in the ongoing saga between James and Brooks.
