Jae Crowder believes Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns broke the Los Angeles Clippers, which ultimately led to Pat Bev shoving CP.
Going into halftime, the Los Angeles Clippers broke the difference between the two teams back down to single digits. However, Chris Paul would go on his own scoring tirade late in the 3rd and early in the 4th to put the Clippers’ championship aspirations to rest. He scored 14 of the Suns’ 16 points in that period, including a dagger and-1 from beyond the arc.
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The entirety of the game was muddled with physical play, which is to be expected when guys like DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Beverley are on the same team. Cousins had his run-in with aggressive fouls, including a slight left elbow to Chris Paul’s face. It was Patrick Beverley who carried the load for the Clips in terms of being a ‘pest’.
When the game was almost close to being decided in favor of the Suns, Patrick Beverley shoved Chris Paul to the floor after the latter stared him down on the way to his bench.
Jae Crowder says Chris Paul and the Suns broke Patrick Beverley and the Clippers.
Following the shove, Patric Beverley was ejected from the game. Chris Paul did nothing but laugh it off and continue on. After the Suns clinched their ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993, Jae Crowder sounded off on that particular moment, claiming it resulted from the Clippers being broken and frustrated.
“We know they broke. We know we broke them. There’s no better sign of defeat than during that moment… That’s a great feeling to have. Such a great feeling.”
Jae Crowder on Patrick Beverley shoving Chris Paul. pic.twitter.com/2qI1zyFkeY
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) July 1, 2021
‘Broken’ may be too strong of a word considering the fact that this is the farthest the Clippers have gone as a franchise in the postseason. Frustrated would be a better term to describe it as it is totally in the realm of possibility that Kawhi Leonard would’ve completed flipped the script on this series.
It’s unknown what happens from here on out for the Clippers. Whether they decide to blow it up and trade George and Leonard, or see that they were only two games away from the Finals without Kawhi Leonard and believe they can run it back.