The Los Angeles Lakers snapped their five-game losing streak by defeating the Brooklyn Nets 116-103 on Sunday night. Anthony Davis was the catalyst, but the team also put forth one of its best defensive showings in recent games, something that means a lot to guard Patrick Beverley.
Beverley has always hung his hat on the defensive side of the ball and against the Nets, he was tasked with being the primary defender on Nets superstar Kevin Durant. Despite giving up nearly a foot in height, Beverley did a good job of harassing Durant and making life hard on him, which he believes set the tone on that end of the floor for his teammates
“S—, me guarding KD!” Beverley said when asked how the Lakers found success defensively. “Y’all didn’t see that? That was the key from the beginning. I set the tone, team responded.”
The 103 points allowed by the Lakers were tied for the fewest they’ve surrendered all season. Durant did still finish with 31 points, but the Lakers did a great job making it tough on him to get the ball in good positions on the court and get open looks when he did get the ball.
But for Beverley, these are the matchups he lives for. He does not care about size mismatches, he loves guarding the best, and he also showed love to his teammates as it was a team effort in guarding Durant.
“Yes. I ask for all the assignments,” Beverley added. “We came up short against the Clippers but the game plan was really good against Paul George. We should’ve won against [Sacramento].
“I started off on KD today. I love those matchups. That’s how I make my name in the NBA, for those matchups. But my teammates, they did a hell of a job having my back. It wasn’t just one person guarding him. AD had my back. We doubled him, threw the whole boatload at him today, we’re just fortunate.”
Now after this victory, the Lakers get a bit of a break with four days off until their next game, and Beverley is looking forward to being able to show his face in public.
“I get to go outside,” Beverley said. “You getting your ass beat all of the time, you got to stay in the house. So I’m just fortunate that I get to go outside and get to some restaurants or something, kind of enjoy this little break with a win. Fortunate.”
Patrick Beverley reveals message to Lakers amidst rough start
The Lakers were undoubtedly happy to get a win, but the team is still near the bottom of the standings thanks to a very rough start to the year. But Beverley continued to push the same message to the Lakers throughout the struggles.
Beverley noted that the message to the team was just to ‘stay with it,’ saying how the team was still without some pieces. But with those four days off, the team has a chance to be at full strength by the time they take the court on Friday night.
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