Los Angeles’ star isn’t exactly slowing down in his 21st NBA season.
LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against Dillon Brooks #9 of the Houston Rockets during the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena on November 19, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Dillon Brooks won his first battle against LeBron James and the Lakers in their reignited feud earlier this month. On Sunday, James exacted his revenge in style.
The four-time MVP and NBA champion blitzed the rising Houston Rockets to the tune of 37 points, six rebounds and eight assists in Los Angeles’ 105-104 home victory. And the dazzling performance came with plenty of theatrics. James appeared eager to stir some drama with Brooks—his rival in the 2023 playoffs—on Sunday night, earning a technical for shoving Brooks early in the third quarter before taunting him with the “too small” celebration later in the frame. James let his play do his talking in the final minutes.
#Lakers LeBron James gets a technical foul for this shove on Dillon Brooks. pic.twitter.com/wKF3pz4sSG
— SportsCastProductions (@SportsCastProd0) November 20, 2023
On LeAttack pic.twitter.com/N1gKzxa82D
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 20, 2023
The 19-time All-Star scored or assisted on 14 of Los Angeles’s final 15 points Sunday night, and drew a foul on Los Angeles’ final possession after Brooks over-pursued a steal on the inbounds pass. There’s a temptation to call the effort a throwback or vintage performance from James, though that feels like a disservice to the King’s continued excellence. This is a player averaging 26.4 points per game just a month before his 39th birthday. He’s perhaps the game’s brightest player and a still-fearsome physical force, one who continues to command defensive attention in 2023 as he did in 2013 and 2003.
Watching James and the Rockets battle Sunday night, and it wasn’t obvious what felt more unlikely. That James was still playing like an MVP, or that Brooks was his central antagonist.
We shouldn’t paint Brooks as some fool poking the bear in Houston’s second straight close loss. He’s been as advertised for the Rockets thus far as a defensive stopper, and he banged home six threes in Sunday’s 24-point effort. His defense on James (and against Los Angeles writ large) was largely laudable, and it’s hard to overstate the value of a player like Brooks fighting through effectively every single screen in late-game possessions. James torched the upstart Rockets en route to a dramatic close win. Houston is far from the first or the last team to suffer such an indignity.
The Rockets, as expected, have fallen back closer to .500 than the top of the Western Conference standings in recent nights, sitting at 6–5 before Monday’s road contest in Golden State. A difficult early schedule will likely ding Houston’s record. But as we saw Sunday night, this is no longer a team ready to wilt against the best in the West.
Ime Udoka’s squad is a competitive nightly opponent for all teams league-wide, with Brooks anchoring one of the league best 10-or-so defenses. James’ greatness was simply too much to overcome Sunday night.
