Cuban sends ‘thoughts and prayers’ to Blake Griffin after his run-in with J.J. Barea

After Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea was ejected from Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers for pushing Clippers power forward Blake Griffin, owner Mark Cuban had some fun at Griffin’s expense.

“I just feel bad for Blake,” Cuban said prior to Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. “It’s hard to come back from a knockout like that.

“We sent flowers to his family — condolences. I can only guess that he’s going to be drinking through a straw for a long, long time, so our thoughts and prayers go out to Blake and his family.”

After that scathing sarcasm, Cuban was reminded that the Mavs still have to go to Los Angeles and play the Clippers on April 5.

Cuban said: “Don’t be shocked if Blake pulls a hammy before that game.”

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of the 6-foot-10, 251-pound Griffin’s fall when he was pushed by the 6-foot, 185-pound Barea: “That was such a blatant flop. I don’t want to say that was a super physical play, because then you’re basically conceding that it was a legitimate flagrant 2.

“But the nature of that play was it was aggressive, it got our fans going, I think it got us going. It was kind of one of those situations where you take a stand. Look, that’s how it’s got to be from here on out for our entire team.”

Barea explained that he was sandwiched between two players, and Griffin “pushed me a little first, then he held me a little bit. Then I just tried to push off so I could get out of it, and then that’s it.”

On whether Griffin flopped on the play or he pushed him hard enough for him to go flailing away, Barea said it was “a little bit of both. I little bit of my push, his flop, a little mixed. I think half and half, really.”

Barea said he’s not taking over the role of the enforcer for the Mavs.

“That’s not my job,” he said. “I’m just going to play hard, bring energy — I think we need a lot of that on this team — on go from there.”

Asked about his young players learning how to play multiple positions, Cuban said: “There’s a lot of psychological damage from watching Blake go down, and so instead of practicing we had to have a lot of time with grief counselors.

“You can’t un-see that. All of America was scarred watching Blake go down like that.”

And for a parting short, Cuban said of Griffin: “He’s a pro. He’ll bounce back.

“We were in his head. Someone said J. J. was coming back and you could see Blake ... ”

Then Cuban turned his head and jumped — as if to indicate a move by Griffin upon seeing Barea.

Barea acknowledged it’s important that opponents know he’s not going to back down when confronted with a physical style of play.

“I think it’s very [important], especially for point guards,” Barea said. “We get screened a lot, so you’ve got to make sure you stand your ground and make sure that if they’re going to come and screen, you’re going to be there.

“I know I probably caught Blake a little bit off-guard.”

Cuban probably did, too.

This story was originally published March 25, 2017 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Cuban sends ‘thoughts and prayers’ to Blake Griffin after his run-in with J.J. Barea."