The Philadelphia 76ers sent a strong message after their impressive win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. With Joel Embiid showing why he’s the frontrunner for Most Valuable Player and the rest of the team showing out as well, the team caught perhaps its biggest fish this season in the form of the defending champions.
After the game, veteran guard Patrick Beverley, who closed the game for the 76ers with his hounding defense all night long, was asked about how he was able to slow down Jamal Murray, the Nuggets’ leading scorer, to just 17 points on 7-18 shooting — which are below his season averages. Beverley didn’t mince words and pointed out that this wasn’t a one-off thing.
Patrick Beverley on the keys to slowing Jamal Murray late: “No key. I’ve been locking his ass up for years.”
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 17, 2024
On his approach against a guy like Murray: “No approach. Normal day.” #Sixers
It seems like Pat Bev has no time to be simpatico, unlike Embiid.
76ers guard Patrick Beverley takes a dig at Jamal Murray after big win over the Nuggets
Beverley has never been one to withhold from speaking his mind. Be it in the middle of a play or in his podcast, the Pat Bev Pod, count on him to have a barrel filled with remarks that has a strong chance of sending social media into a frenzy. This was no different, and it’s pretty apparent that he’s tapping into some history with Murray.
In all fairness to Beverley, Murray has a losing record against him, with Denver going 6-11 against the teams he played on. In those outings, Murray has averaged 15.9 points, four rebounds, and 3.6 assists — with his markers a tad lower than his career average of 17.1 points per contest.
Their lone playoff matchup is a different story though. While Beverley defended him extremely well in Games 1 to 5 of the 2020 Western Conference Semis, Murray and the Nuggets went on to shock everyone and climb out of a 3-1 hole to beat the LA Clippers.
Nevertheless, Patrick Beverley has undeniably been one of the best one-on-one defenders in the association. And this time, he has Jamal Murray’s number.
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