Beal avoids minutes restriction to help lift Wizards over Jazz originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
They say that records are meant to be broken. Minutes restrictions generally are not.
Bradley Beal had a minutes limit on Monday night as he was coming off a one-game absence due to back tightness, but the Wizards didn't exactly adhere to that plan in their win over the Jazz. Beal averages 35.2 minutes per game this season, but played 36:33 against Utah as he poured in 34 points on 14-for-31 shooting.
Apparently, Beal began working the coaching staff to play more minutes very early on Monday.
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"About four minutes into the game he said ‘I can play more, I can play more,’" head coach Scott Brooks said. "I’m thinking to myself ‘really? We haven’t even been through the first quarter yet.’ You could tell just in our meeting this morning that he had a little more pep in his step. You could just tell."
Beal had been dealing with discomfort in his back after it tightened up on him Friday night against the Golden State Warriors. He had also recently missed five games from March 29 to April 5 with a right hip contusion, though the two injuries were not related.
Beal was given the clear by the Wizards training staff under the condition he wouldn't log heavy minutes. Well, about that.
"If I’m the one that said ‘I don’t want minutes,’ I think that should tell you how I felt," Beal said. "Everything feels good, my body feels good. I felt good early on, I didn’t have any problems."
Beal went off for 21 points in the first half and made two clutch free throws with 11.5 seconds left to help seal the victory. That followed two missed free throws by Beal with 19.2 seconds to go, so he was able to redeem himself.
His 34 points were essential in holding off the Jazz, who nearly erased a 19-point lead and had previously won 24 straight games at home. Beal got the win opposite fellow All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who had 42 points.
Now that Beal has gone through a game playing his full alotment of minutes, it's unclear whether he will be restricted at all on Wednesday as the Wizards play the Sacramento Kings.
"We’ll see how he handles it tomorrow. I really tried to keep him in the 34 range, but if it’s off by a few minutes, it’s not that big of a deal," Brooks said.
