Beverley gets tough draw defending old pal Curry

OAKLAND, Calif. — Rockets guard Pat Beverley will get one of the toughest assignments in the NBA that he could not take on last postseason when his elbow injury kept him out of the series against the Warriors. He has known how difficult it is to defend Stephen Curry long before he joined him in the NBA.

“We were roommates, Paul Pierce Camp roommates, LeBron James Camp roommates,” Beverley said of his long friendship with the Warriors’ star. “Me, him and Mike Beasley played together Under-19, traveled the circuit together, trained with the same people a couple years ago.”

Told that Golden State guard Klay Thompson said Curry is unguardable, Beverley said, “He’s been right all year.

“They’re the best team to ever play the game of basketball, so he is playing at a really high level. Steph is a really good friend of mine. We’ve known each other for a while. He’s one of the best players in the NBA. It’ll be fun tomorrow to compete.”

The Rockets, however, said they want to make Curry have to defend Beverley, too.

“You have to be able to feel him,” Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You have to know where he is at all times. If he’s able to run freely in space, he’s too good. You have to be in his airspace all night long. He has to know at the end of the night, whoever guarded him was there.

“On the other end, you have to try to wear him down some. You can’t allow him to freelance, where he is really good at … getting steals, digging on the ball. You’ve got to make him move, make him chase you around a little bit.”