Lakers News: Lakers Twitter Loathes Patrick Beverley
Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers defeated the visiting Detroit Pistons at Crypto.com Arena, 128-121, thanks in large part to the heroics of Anthony Davis, who turned in a masterful 38-point, 16-rebound double-double.
Four perimeter players scored in double digits (Lonnie Walker IV, Austin Reaves, Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn), but L.A.'s starting point guard was not among them.
Patrick Beverley, currently signed to an expiring $13 million contract, turned in yet another underwhelming offensive performance, and his defensive reputation so preceded him that head coach Darvin Ham assigned the 6'1" vet to 6'7" sharpshooting power forward Bojan Bogdanovic. It didn't seem to have much of an adverse impact on Bogdanovic's night. In 35:05, he had 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor and 6-of-7 shooting from the free-throw line. He also pulled down six rebounds and dished out five assists.
On the other end of the floor, Beverley had a typically unproductive night. He scored four points on 1-of-3 shooting from the floor (all triples) and 1-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe, had more turnovers (three) than assists (two), pulled down three rebounds and nabbed a block. He registered a -2 plus-minus,tied for the second-worst such number on the club, behind just Dennis Schröder.
Lakers fans let loose on Twitter during and immediately following the defeat.
After Los Angeles dealt for Beverley in the offseason, several pundits (including yours truly) thought the former three-time All-Defensive Teamer could be a perfect 3-and-D addition for the Lakers. We were wrong.
Sorry about that, buddy.
Several Lakers Twitter fans questioned Ham's decision to stick with Beverley in the starting lineup:
That was not only tweet expressing such a sentiment last night:
Others contended that Beverley not only should be removed from the starting lineup, but perhaps from Ham's entire rotation:
The point guard's reputation as a pest who irks opponents but endears himself to his own teammates and fans may be wearing thin in his NBA dotage.
Other fans pulled no punches in their appraisals of his current skill set.
Beverley's always been a very engaged and aggressive defender, a pest not only to opposing players, but also to any ref with whom he disagrees.
On the season, Beverley is averaging 4.6 points (on an abysmal .281/.243/.824 shooting splits), 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and one block. When small point guards hit their 30s, their production can just drop at any time. That just might have happened with Beverley this season.
