Dillon Brooks 'ready to lock up' LeBron James as he faces Lakers for first time with Rockets

Dillon Brooks is prepared for another go at LeBron James

Dillon Brooks is no longer with the Memphis Grizzlies but still wants to poke the bear that is LeBron James. The Houston Rockets forward will face the Los Angeles Lakers superstar Wednesday night for the first time this season. It's the first meeting between James and Brooks since the Lakers bounced the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs last season. 

Brooks, now with a new team, wants do everything he can to make things difficult for LeBron.

"Ready to lock him up," Brooks told reporters on Tuesday. "He's shooting the ball well. He's been playing well. So I'm just there to make him tired, make him get into that fourth quarter early."  

James is averaging 25.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game for the 3-4 Lakers. While he supposedly started the year on a minute restriction it was lifted quickly, as he's logged at least 35 minutes in five of the seven games he's played in and is among the league leaders in fourth-quarter scoring (9.9 points per game).

Brooks is off to a strong start himself, though. He's averaging 16.3 points per game, shooting 56.5% from deep, and helping anchor a rapidly improving Rockets defense that struggled to stop anyone last season. Only the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs gave up more points per game than the Rockets in 2022-23. They currently have the league's seventh-ranked scoring defense. Brooks plans on maintaining a high level of intensity against James.

"Full-courting him when he wants to bring it up," Brooks said regarding his approach to slowing James down. "Any time he's posting up on the block, I'm bumping him. Bumping him on the jog back. If he's guarding me I want to attack him. Just getting him into multiple actions."  

The Rockets enter Wednesday night's game with a better record than the Lakers at 3-3.