Wizards star Bradley Beal has been fined with $25,000 after “making contact” with a game official during last weekend’s 127-113 victory against the Indiana Pacers, as the NBA announced on Monday.
The contest was deep in the third quarter when the shooting guard was jumping to try to keep a ball from going out of bounds, but as he tried to find balance after the play, it seems he pushed a nearby referee as he landed. The push then knocked the official into the courtside seats, and fell on his back.
Check out last Saturday’s action in Washington and judge it for yourself:
The NBA has fined Bradley Beal $25,000 for making contact with an official.
It happened on this play last Saturday between the Wizards and Pacers.pic.twitter.com/As0KsFrmen
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) February 13, 2023
Beal has already missed 22 games due to injury this campaign, so even though he can feel the frustration of the fine, the player should be grateful he won’t be punished with any matches for this matter. Although the 29-year-old is one having his best season so far, he’s still averaging 22.5 points and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 52% from the field and 37.4% from beyond the arc.
Although the Wizards are 11-3 in the last 14 games with Beal on court, they should concentrate on him staying healthy, as his squad is still 10th in the Western Conference with a 26-30 record, and aspiring for playoffs.
Most of our favorite sport betting sites believe the Washington side have only the 26th best odds (+50000) in the league to conquer the NBA title this year. Is this unfair considering they are not too far away from qualifying to the Eastern Conference’s playoffs this regular season?
Yes, it’s true the Washington roster has many offensive alternatives around him, and but we can’t escape the fact that the Wizards are 2.9 points better than their adversaries per 100 possessions when he plays and two points worse than their rivals per 100 possessions when he’s not on court.
Let’s just look at his past two games. During that weekend game against the Pacers, he dropped 32 points, won 4 rebounds and handed out 6 assists in 31 minutes of play, resulting in a 14-point margin triumph that night. To top it off, yesterday he kept his inspiration to score 35 points in his team’s loss against Golden State.
Just watch last night’s highlights as he added 3 rebounds and 4 assists to his game:
Disclipine in training is key to avoid new injuries
Beal believes that his discipline to adjust to his training regiments is crucial to avoid further injuries this tournament, especially taking into consideration he has suffered from hamstring strains on both his legs in the past months.
“I can still be better managing and taking care of my body. Doing things in the weight more, eating. Looking at everything. Nothing is perfect, so obviously I could get back to the drawing board and figure out how to sustain my durability,” the shooting guard told NBC Sports. “It’s just a freak thing. Some things aren’t in my control and I just have to adjust on the fly. Pray and pray and just keep myself out of positions to get hurt.”
The Wizards now face two more games before the All-Star break, starting tonight in Portland as the Washington team face off with the Trail Blazers at 9:00pm CST.
