On Thursday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Memphis Grizzlies by 15 points. Cavs star Darius Garland’s 32 points proved vital in this dominating victory. His contribution saw the support of five other Cavs players who bagged points in double digits. On the other hand, the Grizzlies stumbled their way through the game. Their stars Ja Morant and Desmond Bane scored 24 and 25 points respectively, but their performance was in vain. With that said, the talk of the town afterward was the ejection of Donovan Mitchell and Dillon Brooks that occurred mid-game.
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In the third quarter of the game, Grizzlies star Dillon Brooks dribbled toward the paint to make a basket. This attempt failed as he tumbled, falling close to the foul line. In the motion, he lost the ball and Mitchell grabbed it. Following this, Brooks moved his arm back, hitting Mitchell around the groin area. Furious with Brooks’ move, the two-time All-Star winced in pain and rushed to attack the Grizzlies star. The two locked arms, leading to an ugly fight.
In the series of events, Mitchell pushed Brooks to the ground while other players, coaches, and game officials tried to control the situation. As per ESPN, the Cavs star received an ejection while Brooks was handed a flagrant-2 foul and also thrown out of the game.
NBA fans left in shambles as Donovan Mitchell and Dillion Brooks lock heads
This brawl left NBA Twitter in chaos. Fans rushed to weigh in and comment on the fight. For starters, they failed to understand why Mitchell was ejected and wrote that Brooks was solely responsible for the incident. Their reasoning was along the lines of how Mitchell is the nicest guy in the NBA and could never do wrong. Fans then stated that the Grizzlies were giving more reasons to shower hate on the team.
Here are some of the reactions from NBA Twitter:
😂😂brooks getting thrown like a rag doll. Love it.
— Thomas Staley (@staleywc3) February 3, 2023
Nah Spida is like one of the nicest dudes in the league. Brooks definitely bitchmade https://t.co/rrZ1ko7jPr
— Austin (@ChefTrillie) February 3, 2023
STRAIGHT CLOWN 🤡 https://t.co/rbGbVilhRi
— Sergio Reyes (@SurgeCudi) February 3, 2023
Why is that an ejection for Donovan? Wild
— iWaveyy (@iWaveyyYT) February 3, 2023
Grizzlies are so easy to hate https://t.co/dFCfy54iMP
— _Vschembri (@_Vschembri) February 3, 2023
As someone who cant stand the Grizzlies, this was everything to me https://t.co/0XWl2EvruL
— MAJIN BOOB (@coreyforde) February 3, 2023
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ star weighs in on the brawl
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During the post-game conference, Mitchell reacted to the on-court debacle. He looked seemingly upset while he agreed that Brooks took a ?cheap shot? at him. He then went on to state that he has had several battles with Brooks over the years. Mitchell said, ?Quite frankly, I have been busting his a** for years.?
He claimed that there?s no place in the game for Brooks’s tactics and mentioned that the Grizzlies stars? actions weren?t new. Following this, he appreciated his team for regrouping and staying unfazed by the events.
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Brooks is yet to react to the situation. With that said, what do you think about this debacle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.