Patrick Beverley displayed some peak PatBev behaviour with his shove on Chris Paul last night. However, he’s now apologized for his actions.
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The Phoenix Suns are back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 years this time around. They’ve eliminated all the competition in their way comprehensively and are tipped as favorites at the next stage.
Chris Paul spearheaded the Suns to a blowout victory at Staples Center last night. The Point God’s 41 points and 8 assists propelled a well-oiled Suns offense that kept firing on all cylinders all night.
But he also had some unsavoury moments through the course of the game. One of the contentious moments late in Game 6 was when he flopped egregiously upon light contact from Boogie Cousins.
The refereeing crew decided to call a technical foul on Boogie for physical taunts instead of penalizing Paul for his obvious flop. This led to a real fracture within the Clippers’ camp, as it quelled a comeback run by the team.
Patrick Beverley apologizes for shoving Chris Paul in Game 6
The Chicago native became more and more frustrated as time passed in the 4th quarter. The Clippers called a timeout with 6 minutes left on the game clock while trailing by several possessions’ worth of points.
This was where Beverley snapped and went to push Chris Paul in the back. He was instantly ejected from the game after referees went to the replay center to confirm his actions.
Beverley has long earned a reputation as a dirty player with similar antics. At least he apologized for his misconduct this time around. This is unlikely to win most fans to his side, but at least his conscience will be somewhat clearer.
One hopes that the NBA doesn’t tolerate such short fuses and bad attitudes towards losing from its players. It would serve them well to hand out a suspension of suitable length to Beverley.
