Despite all the talk and the alleged “dirty” plays from Dillon Brooks, Anthony Edwards got the better of the Rockets on Thursday night.
Edwards and Brooks were going at it throughout the game, with the chippiness leading to the two being separated on multiple occasions in Minnesota’s 127-114 triumph.
Edwards didn’t hold back when speaking about the showdown postgame.
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“I love the competing part, but all the little slick, little dirty sh-t … he hit me in the face and then I fell and he’s like, ‘How much crying you gonna do?’” Edwards told reporters afterward.
Brooks has a reputation for agitating his opponents — and Edwards has a reputation for freely speaking his mind in postgame press conferences.
“‘Bro, you hit me in my motherf–king face. What you want me to do?’” Edwards said. “I just don’t like that part. Don’t do something and then act like you didn’t do it.”
Brooks felt that nothing was out of the ordinary, and instead Edwards was getting favorable calls from the officiating crew.
“He’s just getting his whistle called … it’s ridiculous,” Brooks said. “When a guy goes to the line [15] times, you can’t guard him. When is the defense ever gonna get rewarded?”
With the help of a 14-of-15 performance from the charity stripe, Edwards finished with 41 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The game was tight and competitive the whole way until Minnesota outscored Houston 35-16 in the final quarter.
“We can compete all day. We can talk s–t all day, but when you get to doing that it’s more than basketball at that point,” Edwards said.
Brooks finished with 15 points, three rebounds and an assist in 34 minutes of play.
Brooks received two technical fouls in the game, one for the scrum with Edwards and another for flopping.
Brooks is third in the league in technical fouls this season with nine, only behind Draymond Green and Edwards, who has 11.
“Everybody know how Dillon Brooks is — he plays dirty,” Edwards said. “He think he has a reputation of punking people.”
