Patrick Beverley and Austin Reaves got into it during their matchup on Monday, but Reaves took it in stride.
Last season, Patrick Beverley started the year as a Laker and certainly talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk for the purple and gold.
Beverley was ultimately traded to the Orlando Magic for Mo Bamba as part of a four-team deal, which helped rework the Lakers roster and set the team up for an improbable postseason run.
Beverley was moved again and landed in Chicago, joining his hometown team. When he faced off against the Lakers, Austin Reaves dominated the matchup and hit Beverley with the “too small” celebration, which quickly became a viral moment for Reaves.
Too small @patbev21 pic.twitter.com/960p8nABTZ
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 30, 2023
On Monday versus the Sixers, Beverley finally got revenge on Reaves and the Lakers, scoring 12 points, all from deep, and helped Philadelphia beat Los Angeles by 44 points, the widest margin of defeat in LeBron James’ career.
Austin Reaves and Patrick Beverley getting into it after this sequence pic.twitter.com/yJ4fdmUeBa
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 28, 2023
In the third quarter, Beverley was giving Reaves grief in the corner, which forced Reaves to lose control of the ball and land out of bounds. Beverley did what he does, had some words with Reaves and added a chest bump for good measure.
“Pat’s a super competitor,” Reaves said postgame about the matchup. “If you go back to when we played in Chicago last year when I did the “too small,” I don’t remember if it was after the game but someone asked him about it and he was like ‘It’s the game.’ It’s the same response (from me), basically. I respect Pat. Pat’s a good dude. Pat’s funny…He had all the right in the world to say whatever he wanted to say. It’s the game, competitors being competitive.”
This kind of competitive fire is good and healthy. Reaves understands that if he mocks an opponent, there could be repercussions and when there are, they don’t escalate. Just two guards playing hard, trying to win a game.
Reaves and the Lakers only have one more game versus the Sixers and Beverley in March, so if he wants to redeem himself, that’ll be his only chance to do so, especially considering he’s not currently included in any trade talks.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
