Game 5 of the Western Conference finals had its share of Pat Beverley antics, this time at the cost of Suns point guard Chris Paul.
Beverley — who has a history of exiting postseason games for foul trouble — fought through a Deandre Ayton screen and made contact with Paul’s legs as the latter made a 3-point attempt. The contact put Paul parallel to the court, in the air, before he landed on Beverley’s ankle. Neither player was hurt, though Beverley was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul.
The Clippers guard clearly thought little of the call, mocking Paul as he lay on the court:
Patrick Beverley was given a flagrant 1 foul for the contact he made on Chris Paul’s jumpshot.
Beverley appeared to imitate CP after he was called for the foul. pic.twitter.com/8UDFFbSiSv
— ESPN (@espn) June 29, 2021
Paul made each of his three foul shots, then got the assist on an Ayton alley-oop on the ensuing possession to make the score 71-67 with 5:36 left in the third quarter. But not before Beverley came up behind Paul and told him, “Way to sell it” before shooting his foul shots:
Curiously, Monday’s game was not the first time this season Beverley was assessed a flagrant foul against Paul. He was ejected from the team’s April 9 game — a 113-103 win for the Clippers — for throwing a fourth-quarter elbow at Paul in transition:
Paul finished the game with 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting, three rebounds and eight assists in the 116-102 loss. Beverley had seven points, five rebounds and an assist.
Game 6 of the Western Conference finals will take place Wednesday at 9 p.m. in LA.