Lakers’ Beverley suspended 3 games for shoving Ayton
The NBA gave Patrick Beverley a three-game suspension Thursday, two days after the Los Angeles Lakers guard was ejected for shoving Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton from behind.
His punishment will begin with games Friday and Saturday against the Spurs at the AT&T Center. The suspension will cost Beverley $268,966, or about 2.1 percent of his $13 million salary.
It’s the second time Beverley has been suspended for shoving someone from behind; the other came in the last game of the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2021 playoff run, when he struck Suns guard Chris Paul from the back and had to sit out the first game of the 2021-22 season.
“The suspension was based in part on Beverley’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA said in announcing the sanction.
Beverley was ejected with 3:55 left in the Lakers’ loss at Phoenix on Tuesday. Phoenix’s Devin Booker committed a flagrant foul against the Lakers’ Austin Reaves, who remained on the floor briefly after the hit.
Ayton stepped toward Reaves when he was still down, and Beverley charged in to give Ayton a shove. Ayton and Beverley were both assessed technical fouls, and Beverley was ejected.
“Tough foul, hard foul, Austin gets knocked down, there’s a little bit of chirping going on with Book and Ayton and some of our guys, and then from what I saw Ayton was just standing there about to walk over him,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said Tuesday. “And then Pat Bev ... you don’t want this to be a tough-man competition. You actually want to play tough basketball. But at the end of the day, I’m not mad at him. He’s there protecting his teammate.”
The Lakers, who are off to a 5-11 start, also will be without Beverley for a home game against Indiana on Monday.
Beverley will be eligible to return Wednesday against Portland.
Wednesday’s highlights
Jayson Tatum had 37 points and 13 rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 31 points to help the Nba-best Boston Celtics bounce back from a rare loss and beat the Dallas Mavericks 125-112 on Wednesday night. The Celtics, who have an Nba-leading 14 wins, had won nine straight before losing to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. Luka Doncic scored 42 points for the Mavericks, who’d beaten Boston four straight times . ... Ex-spur Demar Derozan had 36 points and eight assists as Chicago won in Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Bucks, who lost for just the second time in 11 home games this season. ... Kyrie Irving scored 19 of his 29 points in the third quarter as visiting Brooklyn beat Toronto, which had just 10 healthy players. Kevin Durant scored his 26,074th career point in the third quarter, passing Kevin Garnett (26,071) for 18th place on the all-time list . ... Terry Rozier scored nine of his 22 points in the final five minutes as host Charlotte rallied to beat Philadelphia in a matchup of injury-riddled teams. Philadelphia was playing without starters Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey. The Hornets were missing starting guard Lamelo Ball and top reserve Cody Martin . ... Trae Young scored 35 points, Clint Capela added 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Atlanta ended visiting Sacramento’s winning streak at seven.