A few heated arguments in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ 101-90 Game 3 win over the Clippers on Friday night led to two fouls and a rise in PJ Washington’s popularity.
Washington, the power forward acquired by the Mavericks at the trade deadline. Drove past Clippers guard Russell Westbrook with 6:10 remaining. The controversy began when Westbrook fouled Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic by grabbing his right arm behind his back and pulling him, dragging Doncic back. When Doncic reached out to Westbrook to decline, Westbrook pushed him away with his left arm. Washington and Westbrook then exchanged shoves before other players, coaches, officials and security personnel stopped the fight from escalating.
“You always have to score 77,” Washington told ESPN. “So I’m saying, it’s obviously a very bad thing and then he pushed it away afterwards. So I’m there and I’m going to go in.”
Westbrook, who finished 1-of-7 on 7 shots in 19 minutes, was called for two technical fouls and was ejected from the playoffs for the first time in his career. He left the American Airlines Center without speaking to the media. “You have to stay calm,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “It’s tough in the playoffs and everybody wants to play well and do well, but you have to stay calm no matter how the call goes. So we’re going to be better than that for a long time in this area.”
After being called for his second technical foul, Washington, who had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in the win, was ejected. His first came after an altercation with Clippers guard Terance Mann with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter. In this case, Washington hit the show right in the middle of the players pushing and shoving. Crossing his arms and looking at the Clippers bench.
“[Mann] was upset that I was watching their bench, so I decided to watch it again,” Washington told ESPN. “I just came in and tried to set the tone.
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