The Wizards overreacted to McGee’s three

The Golden State Warriors were up by 22 points late in the fourth quarter. They couldn’t completely run out the clock against the Washington Wizards because there was a differential between the shot clock and the game clock. So they got the ball to JaVale McGee in the corner.

The Warriors’ backup center rose up and shot a three-pointer. Wizards guard Brandon Jennings decided to give McGee a two-handed shove in his chest. The three-pointer fell short, but the whistle blew and a foul was called.

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The officials took a look at the play and decided that Jennings should be assessed a flagrant foul. However, before that, Stephen Curry had some words for some of the Wizards. It didn’t get out of hand and it definitely was nowhere near his spat with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but there were a few words exchanged.

After the game, Jennings told the media that he felt McGee’s late game shot “was very disrespectful.” John Wall and Bradley Beal both agreed. They all argued that the Warriors broke an unwritten rule.

There is an unwritten rule. In games that have been decided, the winning team should let the clock run out. There’s no need to take another shot if you have a big lead over your opponent.

The problem in this instance is that Golden State could not have done that. Since there was a shot clock and game clock differential, they would have had to take a turnover. It would have wasted more time to do that and, more importantly, they don’t like turnovers.

This wasn’t a big deal. The Warriors weren’t trying to embarrass the Wizards. They just didn’t want to take a turnover. They also wanted to have some fun.

Should Steve Kerr have kept Steph Curry and Draymond Green in for so long? Probably not. Washington cut the lead in the fourth quarter so he had to re-insert his stars into the game, but he should have pulled them after they built another big lead.

Was it wrong for Green to go after a triple-double? Absolutely not. He didn’t really force the issue. Needing just one more basket to secure the feat, he remained a willing passer. He threw a lob to JaVale McGee and only took a three-pointer after Matt Barnes passed the ball right back to him.

Golden State wasn’t trying to show up their opponent. It’s not like it was Curry crossing someone over and trying to pad his stats a little bit. They were trying to find a way to avoid the turnover while having some fun.

A McGee three is nothing. And, even if it went in, is the difference between a 22 and 25 point lead really that significant? At what point should the winning team stop shooting? If they hit an arbitrary number, do they need to just start taking 24 second shot clock violations?

The Warriors are an arrogant bunch. Steph Curry is their arrogant leader and that attitude trickles down. For their fans, it’s a lot of fun. It’s also reasonable to see where some of the things they do can annoy opposing fan bases and, even, players.

This is not one of those incidents. Jennings and the Wizards overreacted to this one. They came off as whiny (which, admittedly, has become a common criticism for the Warriors) and their complaints fell short in this specific instance.