Memphis Grizzlies matchup No 3: Dillon Brooks vs Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards
Stats: 21.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 16.44 PER
Size: 6’4″ and 225 lbs
Experience: 1 year
Dillon Brooks
Stats: 18.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 15.55 PER
Size: 6’7″ and 225 lbs
Experience: 4 years
The best defender on this Memphis Grizzlies squad is, without question, Dillon Brooks. He’s played in just 32 games this season due to an offseason injury that caused him to miss the first several weeks of the season.
He also missed time due to Health & Safety Protocols and he missed a couple of months due to an injury he sustained during a January game against the Clippers.
Brooks is just now starting to hit his stride. His fresh legs, focused midset, and ability to score makes this matchup with Anthony Edwards a supremely intriguing one.
Edwards has been streaky all season. If Brooks can frustrate him and force the second-year player out of Georgia into taking bad shots, this matchup could easily be tilted into Memphis’ favor.
Edwards can absolutely light it up from downtown, so Brooks is going to have to pick his spots to try and negate some of his counterpart’s made threes. Edward shoots more than 8 three pointers per game, making about three of them on average. Brooks boats about half of those numbers— attempting more than 4 threes per game and making about 1.5 of them per game.
Grizzlies fans know what Brooks is capable of in the playoffs, as they watched him average 25.8 PPG vs the Utah Jazz in round one of the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
Brooks is going to have a tough assignment guarding Edwards. If he can go toe-to-toe with him on offense, this gets tipped into Memphis’ favor due to Brooks’ superior defensive output.
Winner: Dillon Brooks, Memphis Grizzlies