Getty Images Patrick Beverley of the Los Angeles Lakers mimics Damian Lillard's "Dame Time" celebration.
Patrick Beverley trolled Damian Lillard relentlessly during the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 121-112 comeback win on Sunday and the Portland Trail Blazers star fired back on Twitter.
Beverley is a notorious pest and exchanged words with Lillard throughout the contest. While Lillard was shooting free throws he told Beverley he’d “beat his a**,” which led to the two being separated. That was part of a massive quarter from the Blazers where they outscored the Lakers 45-13 and looked in firm control of the game.
However, the Lakers battled back and stunned the Blazers in the second half, opening up another opportunity for Beverley to mock Lillard. He did the six-time All-Star’s patented “Dame Time” celebration but acted as if his watch was broken.
Lillard fired back on Twitter on Monday to a clip of Beverley’s press conference, writing: “Con man. Flip from Above the Rim.”
Flip is described in the synopsis of the movie as a “homeless crackhead” and wore a beanie, as Beverley was in his postgame presser.
Beverley didn’t bite with an angry response, instead noting that his head games have worked with Lillard.
“He mad. Entertaining,” Beverley tweeted.
Beverley Was Called Out by Westbrook During Previous Encounter
It’s not the first time Beverley has been called out by an opponent after a game. His current teammate, Russell Westbrook, did something similar while he was in Houston in 2019.
“Pat Bev trick y’all, man, like he plays defense. He don’t guard nobody, man. It’s just running around, doing nothing,” Westbrook said at the time.
Beverley and Westbrook have mended their relationship since. However, Beverley did say that Westbrook’s statement hurt his reputation around the league.
“After that, people were just taking the ball, just going at me,” Beverley said on the “The Old Man and the Three” podcast with JJ Redick. “I’m like, what the f—? All because of what one person said.”
As for his Laker teammates, they have come to expect the antics from Beverley.
“I mean, that’s PB,” Lakers guard Dennis Schroder said. “That’s what he does. He lives for those moments, and he’s been doing it throughout his whole career. So you can’t blame him.”
Beverley Wants Credit for Defense of Lillard
You can say what you want about Beverley’s antics but he was effective in Sunday’s win against the Blazers, despite not having a big presence in the box score. Beverley played 29 minutes and was a game-high plus-27. He hit 2-of-3 shots, notching four points, two steals, two rebounds and two assists.
Beverley took exception in his postgame press conference to reporters framing it as a “slow shooting night” for Lillard, who was 5-of-17 from the field and 3-of-13 from beyond the arc.
“If he would have cooked me you would have said ‘I couldn’t guard him.’ But he misses a couple shots and it’s a ‘slow shooting night,’” Beverley said. “‘Good job on Dame’ sounds better.”
The win was a second in a row for the Lakers, who moved to 22-25 this season. The Lakers are currently just one game out of a play-in spot and two games back of the No. 6-seeded Clippers.