Patrick Beverley's Comeback Victory Carries him to 2K20 Semifinals
Patrick Beverley was the story of the first round of the NBA 2K20 Players Tournament, steamrolling Hassan Whiteside and throwing all kinds of verbal jabs his way. It was as entertaining as we all expected — and his next matchup lived up to the hype.
Though not as one-sided as his first game, Beverley put on a show in his come-from-behind victory over Andre Drummond. His Philadelphia 76ers trailed Drummond's Milwaukee Bucks by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, but Beverley worked his way back into the game in the second half and won, 69-62.
The chatter started early, with Beverley abandoning his self-imposed trash talk rules. He didn't go after Whiteside until he had a 10-point lead, but seeing as how Drummond took a commanding lead in the first quarter, he didn't have any other options.
His gameplan had changed, too. Beverley wasn't allowing any points in transition and fouled Drummond's Bucks whenever possible. Just in the first half, Beverley's team shot eight fewer free throws than Drummond's.
How he didn't have a single one of his players foul out is quite the feat.
Beverley made his run in the third quarter. Trailing 30-36 at halftime, he outscored Drummond 11-4 over the next few minutes to take a 41-40 lead. Drummond went on a small run of his own after that, which included a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the quarter to take a 45-46 lead.
The fourth was all Beverley, outscoring Drummond by eight points and taking complete control of the game. Near the end of it, Beverley was toying with Drummond, purposely shooting early in the shot clock so that he could spend more time defending him.
"I don't care," Beverley said. "I want to play defense!"
With the win, Beverley advances to the semifinals, where he'll meet Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns. Montrezl Harrell also won his quarterfinals matchup, and he'll meet Ayton's All-Star teammate, Devin Booker, on his side of the bracket.
Additionally, the final two rounds will be best-of-three — meaning we'll get at least two more games of Beverley.
