Even though the Memphis Grizzlies spent a majority of the first-round trash-talking, it was the Los Angeles Lakers that got the last laugh as they won by 40 in Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena to close out the series.
It was a dominant performance all around led by Anthony Davis, who played some of the best defense you’ll ever see.
After dropping Game 5 in Memphis, it was clear that Davis and the Lakers wanted to close it out at home to avoid another trip east and a winner-take-all Game 7.
While it was a dominant performance on the court for the Lakers, they did not participate in the extracurriculars off the court as the Grizzlies continued to run their mouths. Dillon Brooks, in particular, ruthlessly continued to go at LeBron James, which obviously turned out to be a bad idea.
After the series was over, Davis explained why the Lakers did not get into the talking war with Memphis.
“People are going to talk. We’ve had some trash talk on the court in the series, but all the talk in the media and all that stuff, we just go out and let our game talk and play basketball. We try not to get in a back-and-forth with guys.
“Obviously, that’s how a lot of times guys kind of get themselves going. When guys are constantly talking, and you don’t say nothing back… they’re going to eventually stop. I think that’s what kind of happened with Dillon Brooks, but we just wanted to let our game talk. Every time we step on the floor, play basketball and let the rest take care of itself.”
Davis added that there was no talk behind the scenes for the Lakers about avoiding trash-talking, especially since it was mainly just Brooks trying to go get under LeBron’s skin.
“No, not really,” Davis said. “I think it was really Bron and [Dillon] Brooks kind of going at it with Brooks trying to go at Bron and get him to say things or play different whatever. I don’t know what his goal was.”
Brooks found out the hard way that poking the bear is not a good idea, whether that be James or Davis.
James finally responds to Brooks’ trash-talking
Similar to Davis, LeBron did not partake in the trash-talking during the series although he did finally join in after the series ended with a pair of social media posts taking shots at Brooks and the Grizzlies.
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