The Dallas Mavericks have not taken it easy against the Utah Jazz in their regular-season encounters. Both teams took two wins off the other this season, meaning the first-round series between Utah and Dallas may be one of the closest ones in the entire first round.
However, there was a lot of smoke coming after the last game between the teams, won by Dallas. Rudy Gobert went on to speak extensively about how the Mavericks bench was saying things that crossed lines. Not that it stopped the Mavs from being the way they are, as that comment elicited another response from the main culprit Theo Pinson.
Pinson is a bench player but is a crucial presence on the team. He is the resident trash-talker for the Mavs, and he is not afraid to let anyone hear it. Teammate Tim Hardaway Jr. is often a part of Pinson’s strategies to heckle opponents and throw them off their game, as they revealed while discussing their trash talk against Gobert.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
“Rudy don’t like us at all”: Mavs-Jazz playoff series is Theo Pinson’s trash-talk, bench-hype heavenhttps://t.co/Eb49qvOQgl
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) April 14, 2022
Pinson has previously elaborated on how the Mavericks mocked Gobert after he missed an attempted skyhook, but this article reveals a lot more about Pinson’s value to the team. Jason Kidd has previously called him the heart and soul of this Mavs team, and it seems the team is accepting him for that.
“Rudy don’t like us at all”, Pinson said after the March 27 game between the Mavs and Jazz. “We didn’t say nothing crazy to him, and he still don’t like me.”
“It’s nothing harmful. It’s done with taste,” Tim Hardaway Jr. said about their trash talking. “If they get sensitive, then that’s on them.”
The Mavs may have to play game one against the Jazz without Luka Doncic, who is recovering from a calf strain, with nobody knowing what his playing status is. Hopefully, the team can gel behind the unity they have fostered over the season and hold down the fort until Doncic is healthy and ready to play.
