Dillon Brooks’ unconventional LeBron James defense strategy leaves fan in hysterics: “This should NOT be allowed”

Dillon Brooks' defensive positioning against LeBron James in the low post drew a gaggle of trolls from NBA Twitter to the fore.

Dillon Brooks’ unconventional LeBron James defense strategy leaves fan in hysterics: “This should NOT be allowed”

Dillon Brooks, LeBron James

The Houston Rockets were dealt a clutch loss by the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in a game where both teams held leads at various points. In a relatively low-scoring 104-98 affair, both teams combined to shoot 72-of-178 from the floor. The Lakers capitalized on poor shooting nights by the Rockets’ starting guards Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green. LeBron James made a spectacular block with 8 seconds left to put the game to bed.

The game was decided by the putrid shooting of VanVleet, who took 14 shots for 7 points. Jalen Green was not much better, going 4-of-13 from the floor for 9 points. The Rockets lost the turnover battle 15-11 despite holding Luka Doncic and LeBron James to a combined 36 points on the night. Despite their aggressive defense, Houston’s putrid shooting from distance would prove to be their undoing. 10-of-32 shooting from 3-point range tends to stifle teams’ chances of winning games.

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In a highly physical battle where points were hard to come by, Dorian Finney-Smith proved to be the Lakers’ best overall player. Finney-Smith shot 6-of-11 on 3-pointers and was crucial to keeping the Rockets’ athletic and young players away from easy points in the paint. With Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason making life difficult for Doncic and James, the onus fell on him and Gabe Vincent, who also supercharged the Lakers’ offense with six 3-pointers.

Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith both outscored LeBron James and Austin Reaves, who were content to facilitate all the open 3-pointers given up by the Rockets’ defense. Alperen Sengun’s inability to cover the open man after the switch proved to be the Rockets’ undoing on the night.

Brooks employed an unconventional and potentially NSFW style of defense on a play that left NBA fans giggling. With James backing the 6’6″ Canadian down in the post looking for a spin move, Brooks decided to cut the spin move off by occupying spaces where he predicted James would end up. In doing so, he did a thrusting action that will undoubtedly evoke vivid imagery in viewers’ eyes.

Brooks ended the night with an uncharacteristically high defensive field goal percentage of 57%, allowing 8-of-14 shooting. He was undoubtedly effective at certain junctures of the game, but he wasn’t as effective as coach Ime Udoka would have liked.

NBA fans roast Dillon Brooks for his defense on LeBron James

Brooks’ defensive positioning drew a gaggle of trolls from NBA Twitter to the fore as they scrambled to make the most suggestive joke first. A few users said the obvious thing – Brooks’ movement was a hip thrust to James’ backside.

With how eminently suited this clip is for meme purposes, the jokes flowed fast and easy.

Draymond Green, who is a media and player voice always on James and Klutch’s side of events, caught a few strays too.

Brooks himself was an inefficient offensive player on the night as well, making only 5 of his 14 field goal attempts. The 29-year-old only made three of his nine 3-point looks, but managed to put up 16 points after a few trips to the line.

The Rockets will need all three of Brooks, Green and VanVleet to up their offensive production to stand any chance in the playoffs. The team has the length and athleticism to be a tough defensive team, but lacks the bite on offense to make that count. However, even a playoff appearance following a four-season hiatus after James Harden‘s departure from H-Town would represent massive progress.