Dillon Brooks has become public enemy No. 1 for Dub Nation.
From his flagrant foul on Gary Payton II that broke his elbow last year, to the “building this dynasty” comments, to his recent back-and-forth with Draymond Green, Brooks loves to spice things up when playing the Warriors.
He loves to savor wins against ‘em, too. Even if it’s the regular season. In the final seconds of Saturday’s contest between the Warriors and Grizzlies, Brooks was talking trash with Klay Thompson and the Dubs while he was celebrating the imminent Memphis win.
Though the Grizzlies closed out a 133-119 victory, Klay still held out four fingers for his four rings, while telling Brooks he doesn’t have one yet. Brooks pointed at his head as if to tell the Warriors, ‘I’m in your dome.’
This isn’t the first time Brooks and Klay had a moment on the floor this season, either, as Klay stood over him after hitting a late 3-pointer during the Christmas Day game at Chase Center. Brooks also felt like puffing out his chest after helping hold Curry to 5-of-15 shooting and 16 points, though Steph added eight rebounds and five assists.
"They got Draymond talkin', they got Klay talkin', it's easy to get ready for this game," Brooks told Bally Sports Southeast after the game. "I was ready. I only got four hours of sleep and I was ready to go."
Will the Warriors ever get a ring for the thumb to rub in Brooks' face?
If the Dubs Dynasty ends this year, it likely won’t be by accident or by fluke. The demise would be remembered as a slow bleed out, perhaps starting when Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole in practice shortly before the season, casting a dark cloud on the organization.
When Golden State started off the season with eight straight road losses, you could have thought it would be rock bottom for the Dubs away from Chase Center. It’s mid-March now, and their latest road tailspin continued in Memphis, as they dropped their 11th away contest in a row.
All the injuries and missed time from star players hasn’t helped, but there’s no excuse for the way the Warriors play defense on the road. It’s also worth noting that Thompson isn’t the same player away from Chase Center, as he went 6-of-17 from the field, 2-of-9 from 3-point land and finished with 14 points Saturday. He’s averaging 18.6 points per game and shooting 41.5 percent from the field on the road, compared to 24.8 PPG and a 44.9 percent clip at home.
Memphis got off to a hot start shooting the ball and the Warriors were playing catch-up all evening before imploding in the fourth, when they were outscored 29-19. Klay finished with a team-worst minus-30 in plus/minus, as the Grizzlies still rolled without star Ja Morant, who is serving a suspension from the NBA.
The can can’t be kicked much longer. With two more games on this trip, five road games this regular season and 10 more overall, Golden State needs to figure out its road woes ASAP or it’ll be destined for the crapshoot of the play-in tournament – or worse.
The Warriors feel confident about ring No. 5 if they can get to a seven-game series, but just reaching that point seems like a hard-to-attain goal at this point. With Saturday’s loss, the Warriors are back to the familiar .500 mark and in the No. 7 seed in the West.
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