Utah Jazz forward Royce O’Neale played a little out of control in Game 3 of the team’s playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks.
O’Neale, a key perimeter defender for Utah, seemed to get away with a few cheap shots against the Mavericks during Thursday’s game. Several videos were compiled showing O’Neale needlessly bumping and knocking over Dallas players.
Royce O’Neale last night 🤔 https://t.co/7Bz1yIqyZJ
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 22, 2022
The most controversial of these was the last one in the video shown above. O’Neale appeared to needlessly charge at Jalen Brunson while Brunson was boxing out for a rebound. Brunson went down clutching at his back and briefly left the game as a result of the incident, though he later returned.
Royce O’Neale couldn’t guard Jalen Brunson so he takes a cheap shot at him. Brunson to the locker room pic.twitter.com/zfNPS4eQ8G
— Isaac Harris (@IsaacLHarris) April 22, 2022
O’Neale was not even given a foul for that particular play. Brunson characterized it as an elbow after the game.
"Royce elbowed me in the back… and… that's that."
Jalen Brunson on the play where he was injured by Royce O'Neale.
— Nick Angstadt (@NickVanExit) April 22, 2022
O’Neale probably does not have any discipline coming his way, but it’s hard to believe he got away with some of this. The elbow to Brunson’s back was particularly blatant.
The Jazz are already under a lot of pressure to perform in this series, with rumors persisting about major changes if they don’t win. They are now down 2-1 in the series, and O’Neale’s on-court physicality clearly is not helping.
