One scuffle highlighted the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors contest on Monday and involved Khaman Maluach, Draymond Green, and Dillon Brooks.

Let's begin with the first two. It was a mismatch height-wise between Maluach and Green. Devin Booker threw him the ball, and Green fouled Maluach

Then after the foul, the Suns center was immediately tossed to the ground by the Warriors forward. Following a stare-down, Brooks immediately came up to confront Green, and the two got into an altercation with shoving.

Following the game, he said the latter was ‘tweaking' regarding the incident. That confrontation led to a Green ejection and a Brooks technical foul.

The biggest recipient had to be Maluach, who remained grateful for what transpired.

“It says a lot about our team,” he said via AZCentral's Duane Rankin on X (formerly Twitter) after the game. “See your big brother stepping up for me. Keeps us together and keeps us pushing throughout the whole game.”

Khaman Maluach and Dillon Brooks's trust on display

During training camp and the preseason, Brooks talked extensively about Maluach's improvement. Most notably, it came against guarding Victor Wembanyama, and he held his own.

Besides that, Maluach is arguably the most infectious player on the team with his energy. The second-year big man does have more of a target on his back because of his improvement.

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Plus, he usually isn't the one to start any type of conflict, especially with someone like Green. But this is where Brooks came in and stood his ground.

The latter didn't go crazy but simply went up to him and asked about the why. Eventually, that led to the conflict but it was a great reminder of who the Suns are.

A gritty team that sticks together and looks out for one another.