Source: Ronald Martinez / Getty
Patrick Beverley has earned the reputation of being one of the best, if not most annoying, defenders in the NBA but apparently met his match on Wednesday. During Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, Pat Bev shoved Chris Paul hard from behind and was ejected, and NBA Twitter came with the funnies.
The Los Angeles Clippers were led by the heroics of Paul George, with Playoff P showing that he is very much an elite NBA player and taking up the slack left by the injured Kawhi Leonard. However, their best wasn’t good enough against the plucky Phoenix Suns, with Paul scoring 41 points in the closing game of the best of seven series.
As the game was all but completed despite six minutes left and the Suns up big over the Clippers, Paul can be seen in the video mouthing something to Pat Bev, which clearly got into his skin, and then the shove happened. There was a small dustup on the sidelines but Suns big man Frank Kaminsky caught some flack for not gooning it up on Beverley.
Most NBA fans know that Paul, despite his happy-go-lucky image in the commercials, is very much a trash-talker who seeks to gain a mental advantage on his foes while staying composed and prepared to take over games when needed. Although Paul has the tremendous Devin Booker on the other side of the ball, CP3’s elder status doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t stop the ball from going into the hoop or silence his talking on the court.
Believe it or not, this is Paul’s first trip to the NBA Finals and is a huge accomplishment for a player destined to be in the Hall Of Fame when he becomes eligible. As for the Clippers, with George, a healthy Leonard, the rising Terrance Mann, and the solid play from veteran guard Reggie Jackson, the team could become the team to watch in the Western Conference. Props also go out to Pat Bev, who must’ve had a self-check and realized what he did was wrong thus apologizing to CP3 via Twitter.
“@CP3 emotions got the best of me last night gang. My bad wasn’t meant for you. Congrats on making it to the Finals. Best of Luck,” Beverley wrote.
For now, the focus is on Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns as they await their opponents between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks. Check out the reactions from Twitter below.
https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1410442838454804480
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Photo: Getty
Pit For Pat: Patrick Beverley Booted For Shoving Chris Paul, NBA Twitter Came With The Jokes was originally published on hiphopwired.com
