Brooks defends Thompson from ‘dirty player’ label: ‘The dirty player is Draymond’

Some have questioned whether Houston’s Amen Thompson is a dirty player after Golden State’s Jimmy Butler was injured in a scary fall in Game 2 when the Rockets guard took his opponent’s legs out from under him on a hard foul.

Thompson’s teammate, Dillon Brooks, had other thoughts on the subject when asked about it Friday ahead of Saturday’s Game 3.

“No, I think the dirty player is Draymond (Green), giving him a little push as regular basketball players do,” Brooks said. “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’s status for Game 3 is uncertain after he sustained what the team called a pelvic contusion in the 109-94 loss that tied the first round series at 1-1.

Brooks said they can’t take their focus away from Game 3 with concerns about what people are saying about them.

“We’re not worried about that,” he said. “We’re on to the next game and we hope Jimmy can get better.”

Golden State coach Steve Kerr said after the game that he doesn’t believe Thompson intended to hurt Butler.

“We didn’t think there was anything wrong with the play,” Kerr said. “It was just one of those plays.”

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Houston coach Ime Udoka weighed in on the play Friday.

“It’s obvious it wasn’t intentional,” he said. “You look at all the bodies in between and him getting bumped and tripped and the way he fell. You don’t fall into somebody face first on purpose.”

Wednesday’s game got a bit chippy with players from both teams getting technical fouls in the second half and Houston’s Jalen Green receiving a flagrant foul when he flailed an arm into Draymond Green’s face.

“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 on their end.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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