Warriors don't consider Beverley a dirty player
Houston Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley has long been one of the NBA's great agitators, a world-class pest whose physical defense tiptoes the line between "feisty" and "reckless."
In Game 1 of the Rockets' first-round series against the Golden State Warriors, Beverley tried to give his overmatched squad a lift by getting under the skin of reigning MVP Steph Curry. Beverley's chest-to-chest defense and post-whistle aggression led to a brief shoving match and technical fouls both ways.
While many teams may have taken exception to his antics, the Warriors were quite understanding, particularly forward Draymond Green - who responded to the incident by flattening Beverley with a vicious screen.
Green, a physical defender in his own right, told USA Today's Sam Amick on Sunday that he has "absolutely" no problem with Beverley's behavior.
"(Beverley) is who he is, and that's what made him who he is," Green said. "You can't knock somebody for the way he plays. I don't think he does anything dirty. Now he does chippy stuff, but chippy is chippy and dirty is dirty.
"At the end of the day, and I'm saying this as a defender, sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do. He can't go out there and just try to play nice. If he goes out there and plays nice, Steph Curry is going to give him 40 (points). He's got to go out there and rough him up a bit."
Perhaps because they see a bit of him in Beverley, Green's teammates had a similarly even-handed approach to the situation.
"He's not going to back down," backup point guard Shaun Livingston said of Beverley. "He's one of the guys, probably, with the most character on their team, kind of like their heart and soul, like their Draymond. That's what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to go out there and play to win. And if that's what he's supposed to do, then he'll probably be the first one to do it."
Even Curry himself didn't seem to bear Beverley any ill will.
"I wouldn't call it dirty at all," Curry said. "For me, he doesn't try to hurt me or do anything like that, but there is going to be physicality and some back and forth. Hopefully the league doesn't go in another direction where that's not a part of playoff basketball. I hope we don't get a tech every game, but I like that back and forth."
Beverley's aggressiveness didn't have any consequences beyond the technical, but that hasn't always been the case. In the first round against the Oklahoma City Thunder three years ago, Beverley swiped at Russell Westbrook going for a steal, ended up colliding with his knee, and left Westbrook with a torn meniscus that knocked him out of the playoffs.
The Warriors, who took a 1-0 series lead with a breezy victory Saturday, can afford to be forgiving right now. Beverley, for his part, doesn't plan to change his approach.
“That's how I play, man," he said. "Steph knows how I play. That's how I play basketball. I'm not here trying to fight people. I'm here trying to play aggressive. But whatever happens, happens. It's just the nature of the game."