The Washington Wizards were never going to be happy about a blowout loss at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.
Golden State seemingly running up the score didn’t help matters.
In the closing seconds of a 139-115 blowout, the Warriors were taking shots from deep, much to the chagrin of the Wizards.
Brandon Jennings spoke out on the topic, noting the Warriors were lucky they didn’t drive to the basket, per ESPN’s Chris Haynes:
“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.”
John Wall backed his teammate:
“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.”
To be fair to the Warriors, Steve Kerr apologized and made it clear JaVale McGee shouldn’t have taken a shot from deep near the end of the game and that the intention behind it wasn’t to run up the score.
It’s hard to argue against either side here. The Warriors want to stay in a rhythm heading into the playoffs, even if that means letting bench players like McGee put up some shots. But the Wizards were right to show some frustration there considering the Warriors broke a few of the game’s unwritten rules.
Too bad these two don’t play again this year, right?
About Chris Roling
Chris is an Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism graduate and associate editor here at TSD. He also covers breaking news and the NFL at Bleacher Report and resides in Athens (OH) with his wife and two dogs.
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