Brandon Jennings flagrantly demands JaVale McGee follow the Unwritten Rules of Blowouts – Yahoo Sports

The Golden State Warriors blew out the Washington Wizards on Sunday night, fueled by a highlight-heavy 42-point magic show performed by two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry and a fill-in-every-last-blank triple-double from All-NBA power forward Draymond Green. There was a difference of a couple of seconds between the shot clock and game clock in the final moments of the 20-plus-point beatdown, and when Matt Barnes passed the ball to JaVale McGee in the right corner, the center decided to hoist a 3-point shot (with five seconds left on the shot clock) rather than suffering a 24-second violation and a turnover.

That did not make Wizards point guard Brandon Jennings a very happy camper.

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As McGee let it fly from the short corner, Jennings stepped up with a two-hand shove to the chest that sent the 7-foot former Wizard to the deck. After a brief scrum in which members of the Warriors and Wiz exchanged unpleasantries, the referees reviewed the play and assessed Jennings a flagrant foul-1 for unnecessary contact. McGee stepped to the line for three free throws, hit two of them, and after a timeout, the Wizards ran off the final six seconds of a 139-115 Warriors win.

After the game ended, Jennings and the rest of the Wizards made it very clear that he felt McGees closing-seconds heave was uncalled for, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post:

It was very disrespectful, Jennings said. Thank God he didnt go to the rack, it probably wouldve been worse for him. But a time like that, I think you should just let the clock run out.

Its just a rule, Jennings continued. I learned it when I first came into the league not to do that. I mean, youre already up 20 and then for him to do it, it was kind of like Come on. Chill out. Now youre trying to embarrass us. []

John Wall agreed with Jennings that the shot was disrespectful and praised him for committing the foul.

Whenever a team is up like that, you supposedly hold the ball and take a shot clock violation, Wall said. So what Brandon did I think it was the right play. You dont let nobody try to embarrass you and I think thats what they were trying to do.

Added Bradley Beal: I think any other team in the league wouldve did the same thing. Thats like a basketball rule. You dont shoot the ball, period. You take a turnover, if anything. Especially youre up 20 youre not respecting the game. Youre just joking around shooting. And a three at that. [Jennings] had every right to foul him. Thats like a golden rule in basketball.

JaVale, for his part, didnt seem to have any hard feelings after Jennings flagrant shove:

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, however, felt that the Wizards had a point. From Chris Haynes of ESPN.com:

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr agreed McGee shouldnt have shot that 3, but said his intentions were not to show up the opponent.

[The closing seconds were] kind of strange, Kerr said. I think JaVale should not have taken that 3. When you have a lead like that, you shouldnt be shooting 3-pointers. I told him that. I think he understands that. I dont have a problem taking a shot when there is a shot-clock differential. I never understood why a team would be offended if there is a shot-clock deferential. We dribble out the clock and take a turnover? I dont think you should shoot a 3 either. I guess that [is] what Jennings was upset about. I was uncomfortable with the way it ended.

I apologized to [Wizards head coach] Scott [Brooks]. I know he wasnt happy. There was absolutely no offense on our part. We werent trying to pour it on or offend anybody. I think JaVale just knew there was a shot-clock differential, but taking a 3 is not the right thing to do.

You can argue that the Wizards would be justified in taking umbrage at the Warriors shooting a 3 if the shot clock had been turned off. You can argue that it wouldve been better form for the Warriors to just eat a turnover and be done with it. Enjoy your arguments! (Though, as youprepare to embrace debate, its probably worth noting that the Wizlive in a bit of a glass enclosure here.)

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For the most part, though, Ill humbly suggest that if you want to avoid an opponent disrespecting the game by putting up unappreciated triples in the closing seconds of a long-since-decided contest, you should probably not get fitted for clown shoes for the bulk of said contest. To wit:

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Yes, the Wizards entered the unforgiving atmosphere of Oracle to wrap up a five-game, nine-day road trip that included matchups with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz before concluding with the best team in the NBA. Yes, the Warriors are, like, really good, and significantly better than the Wizards, who are themselves quite good. But the Wizards capacity for caring about Golden State breaking unwritten rules seemed to outstrip their capacity to actually compete with the Warriors, and thats not JaVale McGees fault. (Besides, trying to avoid a turnover might be the least Shaqtin-y thing JaVales ever done.)

Its not unreasonable to want the Warriors to generally avoid doing things that make it look like theyre unnecessarily messing around with the score or stat line. (Like, for example, triple-double hunting.) Its not unreasonable to think that if you dont want to watch the other guys to dance, you should probably keep them out of the end zone. Sometimes, rational worldviews can come into conflict and, when slightly more irrational versions of those worldviews collide, sometimes a big dude winds up on his backside in the corner, and the refs wind up convening.

Well let noted reasonable individual Matt Barnes have the final word on this: Brandon isnt going to do anything. But I understand where hes coming from. I would just wrap somebody up in that situation, but it is what it is.

I deem both sides heard.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Dont Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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Brandon Jennings flagrantly demands JaVale McGee follow the Unwritten Rules of Blowouts - Yahoo Sports