Washington Wizards: Don’t trash-talk Bradley Beal. It won’t end well.

Bradley Beal had to remind Josh Okogie just why he’s an All-Star Game starter in the Washington Wizards win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Here’s some free advice for Washington Wizards opponents for the rest of the season: Don’t give Bradley Beal a reason to go off.

First of all, you don’t need to. More likely than not, Beal is going to go for 30+ points when he’s facing off vs. your squad, whether you’re jawing at him or not. He leads the league in points per game (32.8) and has at least 30 points in 20 of his 28 appearances this season. You know that expression ‘don’t poke the bear’? Yeah, well, when you’re playing the Wizards, ‘don’t poke the Beal.’

Josh Okogie learned this first hand when the Minnesota Timberwolves came to Capital One Arena. The Timberwolves had “held” Beal to just 13 points on 5-12 shooting through the first half. At that point, Beal was tied with Russell Westbrook as the game’s leading scorer. So he hadn’t been shut down by any means. But Okogie thought otherwise, it seemed, and was letting Beal hear it throughout the first half. Bad idea.

Bradley Beal gives credit/blame for second-half surge and win over Minnesota to Josh Okogie.

At halftime, the Timberwolves were still in the game. The WIzards lead by two, 54-52. Then Beal took over. In the third quarter alone, Beal had 17 points and four assists. The Wizards outscored the Timberwolves 44-29, and the game was pretty much out of reach as the Wizards entered the final frame with a 17-point cushion.

Beal was only needed for four minutes in the final quarter and finished the second half with 21 points and five assists on 7-11 shooting.

After the game, when asked about what fueled his second-half surge, Beal made it clear who was responsible. Josh Okogie.

Luckily, Beal offered specifics on just how Okogie fueled the fire that led to Minnesota’s demise.

"He started chirping and saying that he didn’t foul me, or doesn’t foul me, and that was just mind-boggling to me because I feel like the only way you can guard me is by fouling. So I kind of took it personal and just turned it up from there."

As the league’s leading scorer, Beal’s right. The only way to stop him is by fouling him, and even that doesn’t work too well, either. Beal currently ranks third and fourth, respectively, in free throws made (7.3) and attempted (8.1) each game and is shooting a career-high 89.8 percent from the charity stripe.

You can’t guard Bradley Beal, and if you foul him, he’ll make you pay for that, too. It’s unclear what anyone can do to slow him down. One thing that definitely won’t work, though, is trash talk. Just ask Josh Okogie.