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Dillon Brooks defended teammate Amen Thompson against accusations of dirty play following a controversial incident that Jimmy Butler III injured in Game 2 of the Houston Rockets’ playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. Brooks instead pointed the finger at Draymond Green.
“No, I think the dirty player is Draymond [Green], giving him a little push as regular basketball players do,” Brooks said Friday ahead of Saturday’s Game 3. “And Jimmy’s fighting in the air for a rebound and stuff happens. Amen’s not a dirty player. He has [nothing] to do with being a dirty player.”
Butler suffered a pelvic contusion and deep gluteal muscle contusion when Thompson took out his legs on a hard foul during Houston’s 109-94 victory that evened the first-round series at 1-1. Butler is listed as questionable for Game 3 at Chase Center.
Steve Kerr defended Thompson’s actions immediately after the game.
“We didn’t think there was anything wrong with the play,” Kerr said. “It was just one of those plays.”
When informed of Brooks’ comments about Green on Friday, Kerr responded with a brief, “Dillon said that? Interesting.”
Moses Moody appeared to find irony in Brooks’ accusation, noting, “It’s a little ironic isn’t it?” This referred to Brooks’ history with the Warriors, as his flagrant foul 2 on Gary Payton II during the 2022 Western Conference semifinals fractured Payton’s elbow when Brooks was with the Memphis Grizzlies.
“It’s obvious it wasn’t intentional,” Ime Udoka said. “You look at all the bodies in between and [Thompson] getting bumped and tripped and the way he fell. You don’t fall into somebody face first on purpose.”
Game 2 featured increasing tensions, with technical fouls assessed to players on both teams in the second half. Rockets guard Jalen Green received a flagrant foul after striking Draymond Green in the face with a flailing arm.
“Amen’s obviously not a dirty player,” Udoka said. “There’s a difference between aggressive, physical play and being dirty and you could question some of their things as well on their end.”
Brooks maintained that the Rockets must remain focused on Game 3 rather than the surrounding controversy.
“We’re not worried about that,” he said. “We’re on to the next game and we hope Jimmy can get better.”
