The Mavericks beat the Wizards on Monday night in a surprising turn of events considering the paths both teams seem to be on this season. While Dallas’ 98-75 win on paper seemed to lack many dramatic moments, there was one notable event that sparked some postgame chatter between the teams.
In their postgame comments with the media, Mavericks veteran guard J.J. Barea and Wizards All-Star guard John Wall took some shots at each over. With 7 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the game, Barea was whistled for an offensive foul after pushing off Washington’s Kelly Oubre Jr. Wall hit Barea on the arm while trying to block his shot attempt after the whistle.
From there, the two had words on the court and, after the game, both elaborated on what was said between them. Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com has more:
Wall fired the first shot when asked about the barking between the two, which resulted in Barea being whistled for a technical foul with 7:42 remaining in the game.
“Just a little midget trying to get mad,” Wall said. “I don’t pay him no mind.”
Barea, a 12-year veteran who is very generously listed at 6 feet, raised his eyebrows when Wall’s comment was relayed to him. Barea said Wall’s comment was “funny” before firing back.
“Now I have somebody in the NBA that I don’t like,” Barea said. “That’s my first. I don’t like him at all now. But I don’t think his teammates like him, either. So it’s nothing new for him.”
Barea also went into futher detail about what happened when he was whistled for the offensive foul:
“So I turn around, and we’re looking at each other,” said Barea, who had a smile on his face when the on-court discussion with Wall started. “I think he’s going to say — what I would do? — ‘My bad’ or something. But he didn’t say that. He was like — I’m not going to say the bad word — ‘What are you gonna do?’ I was like, ‘What?’ So you know, I had to say some stuff back, and he never changed his mind.
“He’s trying to be a tough guy when he’s not.”
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