The Phoenix Suns were brought back down to earth by the Kevin Durant-less Houston Rockets on Monday, but that didn’t stop Dillon Brooks from having a brilliant night. His team high 29 points against his former team one of the few highlights on an off night for Phoenix.
Brooks takes shot at Rockets in defeat.
Speaking to the media after the 114-92 defeat, Brooks compared the contest to when he suits up for Canada and plays FIBA rules. He might be onto something there, but even he had to admit there were calls that went both ways.
Suns forward Dillon Brooks said he never sees so much rewarding on "the other side," for flopping but said it's felt like a "FIBA" game. #Suns pic.twitter.com/JYXOcDlIpa
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 25, 2025
Brooks admitting that he himself flopped during the game, but that it was the Rockets who were more consistently rewarded for what he felt were occasions when they were trying to buy fouls from the referees.
Looking at the box score and from a free-throw perspective there wasn’t a lot to separate the two teams either. The Suns actually shooting more of them (19) than the Rockets on the night (17). Brooks himself accounting for almost half of those attempts, as he went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Brooks did also immediately circle the next meeting between two sides to exact some revenge, and he won’t have to wait long as it is on December 5th.
That’s the attitude you expect from a guy who has become the Suns’ second best player in the absence of Jalen Green, while he’s also carrying a bigger offensive burden with Devin Booker going through a lull.
Really though there is no reason to panic, or even for Brooks to be mad at the result. The Suns are entering a tough stretch of five games in seven nights, while the schedule was always going to get tougher for them after a straightforward start. Losses happen, even to a team missing Durant.
This feels more like Brooks wanting to get one over on the franchise that traded him, and although he held up his end of the bargain on the night when few of his teammates did, the Suns were effectively blown out.
It was not a good performance by the standards they’ve set themselves for this season, but those games happen.
There may be a grain of truth to the FIBA comparisons, but on the night that felt like it went both ways. There next game, a winnable game against the Sacramento Kings in Emirates NBA Cup game in which they are 2-0, is the perfect tonic to this sobering defeat.
One that shouldn’t actually surprise when you consider how good the Rockets look, just don’t tell Brooks that.