Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks is SUSPENDED for one game and Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell picks up $20,000 fine after pair’s on-court tussle sparked bench-clearing brawl
Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay on Friday and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was fined $20,000 due to their on-court altercation during Thursday’s game.
Brooks will serve the suspension Sunday when the Grizzlies host the Toronto Raptors.
The incident occurred with 5:48 left in the third quarter of Cleveland’s 128-113 home victory. Brooks was on the floor near the basket and swung his left hand into Mitchell’s groin area, an act that represented unsportsmanlike conduct, according to NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars.
Mitchell responded by throwing the basketball at Brooks and then pushing him to escalate the incident. Mitchell threw Brooks down to the floor as the altercation moved into the seating area behind the basket.
Brooks was given a flagrant 2 and ejected. Mitchell received a technical foul and also was ejected.
Donovan Mitchell and Dillon Brooks had to be separated on Thursday night in Cleveland
Both players were ejected after the incident, and punishments have now been handed down
Mitchell ripped Brooks after the contest for his longstanding pattern of delivering cheap shots.
‘That’s who he is,’ he said in his postgame press conference. ‘We’ve seen it a bunch in this league with him.
‘He and I have had our personal battles for years. Quite frankly, I’ve been busting his a** for years. Playoffs, regular season. The one game he does an alright job on me today, he does something like that. There’s no place for that in the game and you’ve got to protect yourself at the end of the day.
‘This has been brewing for years, with me, with other guys in the league. You all see it. This isn’t new. Tonight was just the end of it.
‘It’s tough when you can’t guard somebody and can’t do something with somebody, you gotta resort to that and that’s what he’s done to a lot of players.’
Mitchell also admitted trash talk was part of the game but drew the line at ‘cheap s***’.
‘This has happened to other players throughout this league, and it’s bulls*** if I’m being honest with you,’ he added.
‘It’s complete bulls***. It’s one thing, you know, you got Ja [Morant], you got [Desmond] Bane, you got Jaren Jackson. Those guys, they talk s*** and that’s fine, that’s all a part of basketball. We all grew up playing that way.
Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins tries to help break the fight along with other staffers
‘But when you start doing little cheap s***, that ain’t it.’
Brooks declined to comment after the game.
Meanwhile, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he was proud of Mitchell for standing up for himself during the scuffle.
‘A guy should have the right to stand up for himself,’ Bickerstaff said following the game. ‘I thought Donovan did that. I’m proud of our guys.
‘We don’t have those guys that start s***, but we have guys who don’t run from s*** and you have to in this league.’
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