The Los Angeles Lakers played their 5th straight game without LeBron James in the lineup. As they’ve been doing so far, Darvin Ham’s boys managed to give the Phoenix Suns a run for their money.
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A contest that witnessed Anthony Davis record a stat sheet stuffing 37 points, 21 rebounds, five steals, and five blocks, unfortunately, didn’t end in the Purple & Gold’s favor. A bout that saw seven ties and seven lead changes ended with Devin Booker and co grabbing a 115-105 win.
The clash was chirpy, to say the least. The action-packed thriller saw Patrick Beverley behave like the absolute menace we all know him to be. Not only did the defensive guard record 0 points, but he also got ejected from the game for a cheap shot at Deandre Ayton.
Also Read: Anthony Davis Joins This $200 Million Rockets Legend by Breaking a 32-year-old Record
“Patrick Beverley, you’re a repeat offender”: Stephen A Smith
During the dying minutes of the 4th period, D-Book swatted away Austin Reaves’ attempt. Shortly after Devin stared down the youngster, Deandre tauntingly stood over the fallen Laker.
Clearly, Pat Bev wasn’t amused by Ayton’s behavior and ended up shoving the Suns’ center on the back.
Stephen A Smith spoke about the incident on the recent-most episode of “First Take”. According to SAS, Patrick deserved a multi-game suspension for his actions. The ESPN analyst said:
“Not only is he going to get suspended. It should be a multi-game suspension. You can’t shove people in the back. I would have a totally different tone if Patrick Beverley walked around got in his face and shoved him. Got no problem with that. Ahh whatever, that’s tension that comes with the game. It’s the fact that he shoved him in the back and it’s the fact that you are a repeat offender.
If you go back, look at the footage of Patrick Beverley shoving Chris Paul in the playoffs a couple of years ago, when Phoenix smoked the Clippers and bounced them out of the Western Conference Finals… he (CP3) doesn’t see it coming and he (Beverley) just shoves Chris Paul in the back.
What did Deandre do to your teammate? He stared at him while he was on the ground? I mean Booker it would’ve made more sense because Booker slapped Austin Reaves in the face even though I think it was unintentional.”
What does Pat Bev think of his actions?
According to the guard, he was merely standing up for his teammate. When asked about the situation, the 6-foot-2 Laker explained:
“I’m a big fan of protecting my teammates, especially teammates that I go to work for every night.
“I kinda feel like the play kinda got out of control after the staredown at Austin Reaves by Book, and then another staredown by Ayton and the refs didn’t really come in and kind of break it up. I’m not going for that.
“Obviously, it’s unfortunate that it happened on national TV.”
This isn’t the first time that the All-Defensive Team member has committed such a foul. During Game 6 of the Suns-Clippers 2021 WCF, Beverley had bodychecked Chris Paul, which resulted in a one-game suspension.
To be honest, there is no justification for his actions. Beverley is putting the players at risk of injury with his antics. There is absolutely no doubt that he should be penalized for his doings.
Also Read: Skip Bayless Supports Patrick Beverly, Voices His Opinions, and Contradicts Himself
