Beverley asked Adams if she subscribed to his podcast when she asked him a question during the locker room media scrum. After she admitted she did not subscribe to his podcast, he asked her to remove her microphone and leave the circle of reporters.
Smith believes a big fine could be coming for Beverley’s unwarranted actions.
“I can’t believe he did that. I just can’t believe he did that,” Smith began. “I’ve known Patrick Beverley for years. I love the brother. It’s inexcusable. It’s indefensible. When he threw the ball into the stands, he didn’t mean to throw it at the woman. He meant to throw it at the guy… but he should have never thrown it the first time… And then to go into the locker room thereafter and to address a female reporter. I’m quite sure there are male reporters in the locker room who don’t necessarily subscribe to Pat Beverley’s podcast. Did you ask them whether they are subscribers to your podcast? Did you refuse to talk to them?
“It’s indefensible. I love Pat Bev. I cannot defend it, not one bit. It is an incredibly bad look. A suspension? You can book it… The punishment is forthcoming and I suspect a severe one.”
Beverley reportedly called Adams to apologize on Friday morning, and it’s apparent that he is in some hot water with the NBA. Time will tell just how severe the punishment is for Beverley for his off-court antics on Thursday night.
With their backs against the wall, facing elimination, star point guard Damian Lillard is set to make his return to the lineup in Game 6 after missing the previous two games with an Achilles injury, NBA insider Chris Haynes reports.
The Bucks trail the Pacers 3–2 in the series, and they'll be on the road at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as they look to keep their season alive.
Lillard's return will provide a big boost toward those efforts. In Games 1 to 3, Lillard averaged 32.3 points, 5.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds while making 5.3 threes per game at a 44.4% clip. Milwaukee was 1–2 in the series with the 33-year-old in the lineup.
Although Lillard's expected to return for Thursday's game, the Bucks will still be without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who remains sidelined with a soleus strain. Antetokounmpo has yet to feature in the series, and will need Milwaukee to force Game 7 if he's hoping to contribute at all against Indiana.
Lillard appeared in 73 games during the regular season, averaging 24.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
The NBA’s Last Two Minute report from Game 1 of the series between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers is going to be a doozy.
The Knicks won the game, 121–117, behind another explosive scoring night from Jalen Brunson, who had 43 points to become the first player since Michael Jordan to score at least 40 points in four straight playoff games. But the Knicks also benefited significantly from several questionable officiating decisions down the stretch in a tight game.
The most crucial and most controversial was the offensive foul call on Pacers center Myles Turner with 12.1 seconds left. The play came immediately after a Knicks turnover gave Indiana new life, with New York leading 118–117 and the Pacers able to hold the ball for the last shot. Tyrese Haliburton brought the ball across halfcourt, guarded by Donte DiVincenzo. Turner came up to set a screen on DiVincenzo and DiVincenzo crumpled to the floor as if he’d been stuck by a cattle prod. Turner was whistled for a moving screen, giving the ball back to the Knicks and effectively ending any hopes of a Pacers comeback. (The Pacers challenged the call but it was upheld on review.)
Were Turner’s feet still moving when he set the screen? Sure. Slightly. By the letter of the law, it’s a foul. But it’s a marginal call at best, and not the type of foul that usually gets called at that stage in a playoff game.
“I think it’s best when the players decide the outcome of the game,” Turner said after the game. “I think it’s unfortunate that it happened. We reviewed it; they still called it an illegal screen. But it’s the playoffs, man. I feel like DiVincenzo did a good job of selling it. For the most part you can’t leave the game to be decided by the refs. So we have to take accountability as well. Of course it’s right after the game, I’m a little fresh in my emotions about it, but we know, at the end of the day, we can’t get to that position.
“The Last Two Minute report, we’re all looking forward to that coming out. I think there was two controversial calls. We had to use our challenge on one call on Tyrese [Haliburton]. And then the kickball by Aaron Nesmith that was not a kickball—you can clearly see it on the replay.”
While the moving screen call is debatable, there’s no doubt that Turner is right about the missed call on Nesmith. With 52 seconds left to play and the score tied at 115, Brunson tried to sneak a pass to DiVincenzo in transition. Nesmith deflected the pass, but the officials ruled that he did so with his foot, which is illegal, and the Knicks retained possession. In fact, video shows that Nesmith clearly deflected the pass with his hand, but the call was not reviewable.
The blown call denied the Pacers a fastbreak opportunity in the final minute of a tied game. Instead, immediately after the Knicks got the ball back, DiVincenzo hit a dagger three. Crew chief Zach Zarba told a pool reporter after the game that the call was incorrect.
The bad calls weren’t the only reason the Pacers lost. One other reason was that Haliburton made several questionable decisions in the final minutes (he had three turnovers in the last four minutes of the game). But when playing against a quality opponent in a raucous road environment, it’s next to impossible to win when you also have to overcome uneven officiating.
The other game on Monday night was equally interesting, but not equally competitive. In Game 2 of their series, the Minnesota Timberwolves eviscerated the Denver Nuggets, 106–80, to take a 2–0 lead in the series.
The result was notable for a few reasons. First of all, Minnesota was playing without center Rudy Gobert, who was away from the team awaiting the birth of his first child. Even without Gobert, the favorite to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, the Timberwolves’ defense still held Denver to its fewest points since Game 7 of the 2020 first round against the Jazz (an 80–78 win for the Nuggets).
The loss also marked just the second time during the Nikola Jokić era that the Nuggets lost back-to-back home playoff games. The only other time was when the Phoenix Suns finished off a four-game sweep in Denver in the 2021 second round. The Nuggets were nearly unbeatable at home during their championship run last season, losing just one game in Denver (Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat). But the T-Wolves are just that good. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns were excellent again in Game 2, combining for 54 points on just 32 shots. It’ll be an uphill battle for the Nuggets to come back and win the series after squandering home-court advantage so dramatically.
Patrick Beverley appeared to engage in a heated altercation with a fan in the closing minutes of the Milwaukee Bucks' season-ending loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
Beverley checked out of the game for good with 2:32 to play. As he stood near the Bucks' bench, the TNT broadcast captured Beverley calling for a basketball from a nearby fan. When he received the ball, Beverley chucked it back at the fan with what appeared to be some intentional velocity.
It's unclear what was said between Beverley and the fan before and during this clip, but it's not a good look for the 35-year-old guard.
Beverley scored six points on 3-of-11 shooting and tallied five assists in 40 minutes during the Bucks' 120–98 loss at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Milwaukee was eliminated from the playoffs with the loss.
Beverley, who was traded to the Bucks in February, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer heading into his 13th season in the league.