Bradley Beal returned from a five-game absence to help lead the Wizards to a win over the Magic on Wednesday. The shooting guard had been dealing with nerve issues in his hip, something called meralgia paresthetica.
“It’s a little worse than a contusion. I got a little nerve stuff going on too,” Beal said (via NBC Sports). “It’s a matter of just every day, keeping the symptoms down and being able to dook it out. I feel if I can push through some things and be able to tolerate and move comfortably, then I’ll give it a go.”
Beal admitted that the hip ailment caused him to adjust his game.
“You saw I shot a lot of jumpers tonight, but I got an extra little set of pads on my hip,” Beal said. “That’s just me playing it safe, but I definitely know that the falls are gonna come. That’s just the physicality of this game, so I know those moments are unavoidable but as best as I can I’m gonna try to control what I can control and try not to hit the ground too much.”
The Wizards continue to push for the playoffs, though down the road if Washington falls out of the race, it’s possible that Beal gets shut down. Until then, the All-Star will suit up when he’s healthy enough to.
“We trust our performance staff and Brad, and they know what they’re doing,” Scott Brooks said after the game. “[Beal’s] under a minutes restriction and it’s good that he played right around that. Going forward, I’m hoping that he’ll play every game from here on out. Obviously, when you have the best player out it puts a lot of stress on a lot of guys doing things and playing roles that they’re not comfortable with.”
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