LeBron James, key this Saturday in the victory of the Los Angeles Lakers against the Memphis Grizzlies (111-101 for the 2-1 in the series), stressed, in line with his controversy with Dillon Brooks, that he does not have to answer to anyone because his legacy speaks for itself.
"In the end, my resume and what I've done for this league speak for themselves," he said at a press conference. "My focus is on my teammates and finding a way to beat the Memphis Grizzlies, not how I can beat an individual on their team," he added.
After his controversial statements in which he called LeBron "old", Brooks was greeted in Los Angeles with boos from the warm-up by fans who whistled at each and every one of his actions before and during the match.
Brooks had a very discreet performance (7 points on a dismal 3 of 13 shooting) and was also sent off as soon as the second half began after hitting LeBron in the groin.
The Los Angeles star added 25 points and 9 rebounds to support Anthony Davis' great game (31 points and 17 rebounds) while Ja Morant returned to the Grizzlies with 45 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists.
LeBron, very cautious and restrained in his statements these days about Brooks, said he did not need to respond in any special way to the Memphis player. "We just wanted to play well, we got a win and we want to try to do the same in the fourth game," he said.
"This is not my first rodeo. I've had this throughout my career with certain individuals... it's easy... We won tonight, I don't want to start this (...). I'm not going to do this, no I'm going to do this...", he explained with a smile and biting his tongue. The fourth game of this exciting series between the Lakers and the Grizzlies will also be played on Monday in Los Angeles.
The Miami Heat won the third game of the series against the Milwaukee Bucks (121-99) this Saturday to take a 2-1 lead thanks to a very complete game that, without the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, had no response from the visitors.
The Greek star has only been able to play ten minutes and fifty seconds so far in the tie and remains a doubt for the next matches.
The Phoenix Suns of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker scored the fourth game (100-112) this Saturday at home against the Los Angeles Clippers weighed down by injuries to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and who, despite another highly commendable performance, no longer they have a margin of error in this series (1-3).
Philadelphia 76ers qualified this Saturday on the fast track to the Eastern Conference semifinals (0-4) after beating the Brooklyn Nets at home again 88-96 despite not having Joel Embiid in this fourth game.
The Sixers (third in the East) are the first team to get past the first round in these 2023 playoffs. The Philadelphia team will meet the winner of the tie between the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks (2-1) in the next game for now for those of Jayson Tatum).
