Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks logs historic playoff debut
Dillon Brooks scores 31 points to lead Memphis in Game 1 win on the road.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks played his way into the 2021 NBA playoffs with huge performances in the State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament, and Sunday’s shift to a seven-game series made no matter.
He racked up 31 points in the Grizzlies’ 112-109 Game 1 upset of the No. 1-seeded Utah Jazz, besting the Grizzlies’ previous playoff debut record of 24 (set by Marc Gasol in 2011 against the San Antonio Spurs).
Dillon Brooks' 29 points (at the end of the third quarter) represent a new @memgrizz record for any player making his @NBA Playoffs debut.
The previous record was held by Marc Gasol, who scored 24 points in his playoff debut on April 17, 2011 at San Antonio. pic.twitter.com/3EAJeM0qgH
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) May 24, 2021
“He brings a lot of energy to the floor,” guard Ja Morant said. “As soon as we get here in the locker room, he’s already active and loud and carries it onto the floor for us during the game. We just continue to play off of him. I think everybody on this team gets a lot of energy from him, just seeing how active he is on the floor.”
Brooks joined Devin Booker and Trae Young in topping 30 points during their playoff debuts Sunday, becoming the seventh player to do so in the last 10 seasons. The others? Luka Doncic (’20), Kyrie Irving (’15), Anthony Davis (’15) and Damian Lillard (’14).
Dillon Brooks: 'They had some guys that couldn't guard me.'
And in combination with Morant, who put 26 on Utah, they became the fourth pair of teammates to log at least 25 points each in a playoff debut — and the first since 2005, when Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni did so for the Bulls against Washington.
Dillon Brooks (31 PTS) and Ja Morant (26 PTS) are the first pair of teammates to score 25+ in their shared #NBAPlayoffs debut since Ben Gordon (30 PTS) and Andres Nocioni (25 PTS) did so for the Bulls on April 24, 2005. pic.twitter.com/jJ7EggZAy2
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 24, 2021
| Date | Series | Player (points) | Player (points) | Result |
| May 23, 2021 | Grizzlies vs. Jazz | Dillon Brooks (31 points) | Ja Morant (26 points) | Grizzlies 112, Jazz 109 |
| April 24, 2005 | Bulls vs. Wizards | Ben Gordon (30 points) | Andres Nocioni (25 points) | Bulls 103, Wizards 94 |
| April 29, 1993 | Hornets vs. Celtics | Kendall Gill (30 points) | Alonzo Mourning (30 points) | Celtics 112, Hornets 101 |
| April 26, 1990 | Spurs vs. Nuggets | Willie Anderson (27 points) | David Robinson (26 points) | Spurs 119, Nuggets 103 |
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
