Dillon Brooks faces 1-game suspension after taunting Mavs bench

MEMPHIS — For the second time this month, Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks faces an automatic one-game suspension due to his technical fouls total for the season.

In yet another eventful performance for the pesky defender known as Dillon «The Villain,» Brooks picked up his 18th technical foul of the season for taunting the Dallas bench during the Grizzlies' 112-108 win Monday night.

In particular, Brooks taunted vocal Mavs reserve forward Theo Pinson after dunking in traffic with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter. Brooks pantomimed waving pom-poms, insinuating that Pinson earned paychecks as a cheerleader, not a player.

«The dude was standing up on the bench. He should be sitting down,» Brooks said, referencing the NBA's bench decorum rules added in the offseason in large part due to Pinson's antics during last year's playoffs. «We should be putting that on notice, but I just wanna let him know he's a cheerleader.»

Pinson responded by tweeting, «I got some real estate I see» with a laughing emoji, perhaps a nod to Brooks' comment about owning real estate in San Francisco after swapping barbs with Golden State's Klay Thompson during and after the Grizzlies' win Saturday night.

The NBA automatically suspends players for one game after they are assessed 16 technical fouls in a season, and every two technical fouls thereafter. Brooks, who leads the league in technicals, was suspended for the Grizzlies' March 5 road loss to the LA Clippers. He is expected to be suspended again for Wednesday's home game against the Houston Rockets.

Brooks could avoid another suspension if the league office opts to rescind this technical foul, but the Grizzlies do not consider that to be a realistic possibility.

«We'll see, but this