Patrick Beverley returns to form
It’s no secret that Patrick Beverley has been struggling so far this season. Through his first three games, Beverley was shooting 2-17 from the floor, and 1-11 from three-point range.
But on Tuesday, Bev finally started to look like the player we’ve expected. In 26 minutes, he went for 12 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, all season-highs for the 30-year-old.
It was a nice change of pace for LA Clippers fans, some of whom had been calling for rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to start over the veteran guard, to see Beverley perform like he did. And it wasn’t just his offense that was on point — he had mighty contributions on the defensive end as well, holding Jrue Holiday to 2-15 shooting. And while Holiday has been struggling overall this year, this is still a notable achievement.
What really set Beverley apart on Tuesday was his hustle. There were numerous times when plays looked dead and were eventually saved by him corralling a loose ball, or putting forth an extra effort to kick the ball back outside for an easy look. It’s the kind of thing we’ve all come to expect from him, and it’s great to see that he appears to be getting back to his old style of play.
After all, it does seem a little foolish to expect Beverley to come right out and play like he hadn’t missed a beat, even after he did so at the beginning of last season. He may be fully recovered from his knee surgery, but he has less summer practice under his belt than the rest of these guys do.
Beverley had a solid defensive effort against his former Houston Rockets on Sunday. Hopefully he can repeat that performance on Friday, with a little more explosiveness on the offensive end as well.