NBA Notes: Rockets, Dillon Brooks, Kings, Doug Christie, Warriors

Rockets

Dillon Brooks got his first shot at the Rockets since Houston traded him to Phoenix this summer, and the reunion played out exactly the way you’d expect.

Brooks talked trash, accused his former teammates of flopping and generally tried to stir things up, as relayed by Doug Haller of The Athletic.

Ime Udoka did not take the bait. The Rockets coach said he respects Brooks and appreciated what he did during his two seasons in Houston.

“To bring in a veteran like him and (Fred VanVleet) to change the culture and environment, the competitiveness on a nightly basis,” Udoka said. “You’ve seen that happen here.”

Udoka added that he does not mind Brooks pushing boundaries. He said he and Brooks both “toe the line” and that he still has a ton of respect for the Suns forward.

Kings

Scott Perry is not entertaining any talk about Doug Christie’s job security.

The Kings general manager told Sam Amick of The Athletic that he has complete confidence in Christie to lead the franchise “into better times.”

Christie said he appreciated the public show of support.

“His backing, the alignment from him, is huge,” Christie said. “He hasn’t said anything to me differently, so I’m glad he said that publicly.”

Christie said his focus is on building a style of play that Kings fans can be proud of.

Sacramento has stumbled out of the gate, but the front office is intent on letting Christie guide the team through it.

Warriors

Golden State sent three players to the G League on Wednesday.

De’Anthony Melton, Jonathan Kuminga and Gui Santos all joined the Santa Cruz Warriors for scrimmage work, per Anthony Slater of ESPN.

Santos needed conditioning, while Melton and Kuminga are in the final stretch of injury recovery.

There is real optimism surrounding Melton. According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the veteran guard could make his season debut in the first week of December after last year’s ACL tear. He will be reevaluated this weekend.

The Warriors are also hoping Kuminga is nearing a return. He has been out with bilateral knee tendonitis and will scrimmage with Santa Cruz to test his progress.

If there are no setbacks, the expectation is that he could return at some point during Golden State’s current home stand, which wraps up December 2.

The Warriors could use all three players soon. The rotation has been stretched thin and this stretch of home games offers a chance to stabilize the season.