What Happened Between Dillon Brooks And Jamal Murray That Led To A Sudden Ejection

Dillon Brooks was ejected after striking Jamal Murray© Instagram/dillonbrooks24

Dillon Brooks was shooting the lights out in Friday's NBA Cup opener when one turnaround jumper ended his night. Officials sent the Phoenix Suns forward to the locker room after he kicked Denver's Jamal Murray in the groin area midway through the third quarter. Murray crumpled to the floor in obvious pain, and play stopped. Phoenix had hung with the Nuggets for most of the game, largely thanks to Brooks. Now the Suns had to finish without their top scorer, and the replay gave fans plenty to argue about.

What Happened Between Dillon Brooks And Jamal Murray In The Third Quarter?

Dillon Brooks was working in the post with 8:05 left in the third quarter. He rose for a turnaround shot and, in mid-air, a leg caught Murray in the groin. The Denver guard stayed down. Officials made a foul call on the spot, then went to the monitor and upgraded it to a Flagrant 2. Brooks was gone.

The game was already a tense, back-and-forth affair, which made the ruling sting more inside Mortgage Matchup Center. Whistles had gone against Phoenix all night, a few of them picky, but nothing was building toward a flare-up. The physical play picked up in the third as Murray started scoring more, and even then it stayed within normal limits. Still, the officials judged the contact excessive.

Are The Suns In Trouble Without Brooks?

The $73 million forward led Phoenix in scoring. The Suns gave him that deal in August, a three-year extension, after he averaged a career-high 20.2 points in his first year with the team. Brooks scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, with four threes, two assists, a rebound and a steal, all in roughly 20 minutes. Twenty of those points came before halftime, on 8-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from deep. Only two came after the break. Brooks had done his damage early.

Phoenix has few players who can swing a game with a hot stretch, and Brooks brings an edge to go with it. Jordan Goodwin can match some of the intensity, though not in the same way, and the scoring gap is bigger. Goodwin and Luke Kennard will see more minutes, while the heavier scoring load falls mostly on Devin Booker, with Miles Bridges and Jalen Green sharing it.