Things were a little heated between the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards by the end of the former’s 139-115 victory over the latter on Sunday night.
With the game wrapped up, Brandon Jennings committed a Flagrant-1 foul on JaVale McGee. He was attempting a three, and Jennings shoved him. Both Jennings and John Wall defended the decision afterward, deeming the Warriors’ behavior down the stretch, which included Stephen Curry and Draymond Green finishing the game on the floor, beyond disrespectful, per ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes:
“Yep, totally agree,” Wizards guard John Wall said when asked if the Warriors treated the game disrespectfully in the closing minutes. “Whenever a team is up like that, supposedly, you just hold the ball and take a shot-clock violation. So, what Brandon did, I don’t think it was dirty. I think it was the right play. You don’t let nobody try to embarrass you and I think that’s what they were trying to do.”
Jennings didn’t have any regrets.
“It was very disrespectful,” Jennings said. “Thank God he didn’t go to the rack, it probably would have been worse for him. But any time like that, I think you should let [the] clock run out. I think it was already disrespectful that they were trying to get Draymond a triple-double, Steph was out there with 40. So, I just felt it was disrespectful.
“I’m old school. Like I said, he better be glad he shot that 3 and didn’t go to the basket.”
McGee would go on to shoutout Jennings in his postgame comments for the foul, since he believed he was going to miss the three. Matt Barnes gave his two cents, because he’s Matt Barnes. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr apologized to Wizards head coach Scott Brooks, who seemed a bit ruffled after the end-of-game happenings.
Basically, if these two teams meet in the NBA Finals, it will be absolutely lit.
Spoiler, though: They won’t be meeting in the NBA Finals.
And even they did, the shine from this non-issue will have worn off. The Warriors kind of messed up, but the Wizards have responded with their comments and Jennings’ foul. Maybe things would be a little extra chippy, but this feels like one of those momentary butting of the heads that doesn’t lead to any longstanding issues–unless, of course, the Warriors’ intention all along was to embarrass the Wizards because they were the team against which Kevin Durant sprained his MCL back in February.
Then we might totally have a half-rivalry brewing here.
