Patrick Beverley Slandered Chris Paul All Over ESPN Monday Morning

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The Phoenix Suns were absolutely destroyed in game 7 of their second round playoff matchup vs the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night. By halftime, the score was 57-27 and the game was over. When the whistle blew on the 3rd quarter, the lead had ballooned to 42 points (92-50).

Anthony Edwards, in a story he’d later delete, used Instagram to laugh at the Suns while it was happening. Clearly, he took exception to the Suns’ trash talk during the season. We found out, via Patrick Beverley on Monday morning, why Ant felt so comfortable posting on the subject. The league isn’t afraid of the Phoenix Suns.

History Meets Present

Patrick Beverley and Chris Paul have a long playoff history against each other. Hatred between the two is well-known and well-documented. It might be the biggest and best personal rivalry between any two individual players in the NBA right now.

So when Bev got an opportunity to join ESPN for two different shows (Get Up, First Take) Monday morning, immediately following Chris Paul’s demise, we knew the savagery would be first class. How bad was CP3, in reality? Pretty bad.

The Mavs went at him when they had the ball on offense and used that to wear down the 37-year-old veteran. Paul averaged 9.4 points per game over the final 5 games vs Dallas. On defense, Dallas switched and played the high wall vs pick and roll on both Devin Booker and Chris Paul. Nobody else could make them pay for that extra attention. Paul couldn’t get to his favorite elbow spot and his body broke down. All of that culminated into a heavy decline in offensive aggressiveness and production out of Chris Paul, by series end.

Bev said the Suns were “scared” going into last night because they knew they couldn’t hang with Luka Doncic. He went on to call CP3 a “cone” on defense and said the Suns should have benched the future hall of famer in game 7.

Wolves Want all the Smoke

I’m not sure how to feel about all of the shit Patrick Beverley talked on ‘The Worldwide Leader in Sports’ Monday morning. I appreciate his fearlessness and I’m happy Anthony Edwards is feeling confident, as well.

But the Minnesota in me can’t help but cringe. And one thing is for sure, Patrick Beverley is making enemies for the Wolves come next season. Remember, the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t have a resume, entering this season.

Yes, they finally made the playoff field as a 7-seed in 2022. But after a play-in game to get there, Bev, Ant and their teammates exited after 6 games in the first round, celebrating themselves on the way out. The Phoenix Suns went to the NBA Finals in 2021, then won 64 games and went into the playoffs as the #1 seed in 2022.

We all know about Bev’s personal agenda vs Chris Paul but his smack talk from this morning will reach far beyond their relationship. Hopefully, KAT and gang are ready for all the smoke Patrick Beverley and Anthony Edwards cooked up between Sunday night and Monday morning. Because Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell folded down the stretch of round 1, much like Pat is accusing the Suns of doing in round 2.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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