Knew I Had 9 Fouls!”: 6ft 1″ Patriick Beverley Breaks Down Guarding Kevin Durant in Playoffs 4 Years After 2–4 Loss to Warriors

Back in April 2019, the Golden State Warriors defeated the LA Clippers 4-2 in the Western Conference Playoffs in round 1. While the Warriors were stacked with talent and the favorites to win, not many NBA fans backed the LA Clippers. However, replying to fans for a GQ Sports segment recently, Patrick Beverley revealed that he and his teammates were still optimistic.

One fan wanted to know how Beverley was able to reasonably contain Kevin Durant in the first 2 games of the series. Talking about his defensive strategy, the 6ft 1″ guard revealed that he practiced on a 5ft 9” friend after asking him to stand up on the couch. In typically hilarious fashion, Beverley said that he wanted to chop off Durant’s legs in order to make it a fairer fight. He claimed that he was able to defend the 7-foot forward by using his lower body strength and also by being overtly aggressive towards the 2-time NBA champion.

Patrick Beverley wanted to guard Kevin Durant in the 2019 Playoffs

Led by Doc Rivers, not too many fans were hoping for a Clippers victory over an unbelievably stacked Golden State Warriors team. Beverley revealed that he had asked for the job of guarding KD from coach Doc Rivers before the game.

He claimed that he and his ‘homies’ talked before the game, and he ended up guarding KD due to a lack of choice. When asked about his strategy, Beverley revealed a unique training method:

“So me and the homies right? We talked, before the playoff series. We didn’t know Maeve C. We started 2 rookies, our leading scorer is two guys off the bench. Lou Will and Trez. Obviously, no one in the world thought we had any slight chance of beating Golden State, probably except us. So, me and the homies, okay Pat, who you got? I told coach, ‘Man, gimme KD’. They said ‘Alright, f**k it. How do you think about guarding him?’ So I got homie, homie like 5’9”. I had homie stand up on the couch. Now homie kind of KD height now. So we at the crib, he got the ball in hand, I am putting my butt all up on the couch and shit, that’s what I am gonna do bro. I am gonna chop off his legs bro. I can’t give him power because he is going to shoot right over me.”

Of course, chopping KD’s legs was never an actual possibility. This meant that the 6ft 1” Patrick Beverley instead relied on his strength, and aggressiveness to contain Durant:

“So the key to that game was being aggressive as shit. I understood the ref wasn’t going to call a ton of fouls, coz they wanted to see that. It’s always a buildup from each series. They wanted to see both of us on the courts. Game said I had 6 fouls, but I knew I had 9 going in, if you know what I mean. So I was able to be really aggressive with him, foul a lot, use my strength, use my lower body on his lower body and kind of throw him. That is how kind of I got the job done the first couple of games.”

Of course, the ploy only worked partly. He scored just 44 points in the first two games before going for 41.2 points per game in the remaining 4 matches.

Kevin Durant and Patrick Beverley had mutual respect after Playoff showdown

The intense matchup did not mean that there was any bad blood between the two players. After game 1, Kevin Durant praised Patrick Beverley and his grit, according to Bleacher Report:

“I’ve been playing against Pat Bev since he was in Arkansas, so I kinda know what he brings. He’s a Chicago kid, man—grew up and raised in the Chicago area, so those dudes played with a different type of grit, so I can appreciate that about Pat.”

On the other hand, Beverley claimed that he had simply focused on being himself:

“I was just being Pat. It was fun out there. We competed. I really wish we could’ve played more without the chippy calls, but I understand it’s Game 1 and they’re trying to set the tone. But this is the playoffs. People want to come see a good basketball game and not so many fouls, but there’s things that we can control.”

Of course, Beverley confessed years later that he was well aware of the number of fouls he ended up giving. While KD proved unstoppable through the series, he still was able to restrict the talented forward in the first two games.