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Patrick Beverley, Timberwolves hilariously clown Lakers throughout blowout win

Ryan Young
Staff writer
·3 min read
152

Patrick Beverley and the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t just beat the Lakers on Wednesday night.

They had a ridiculous amount of fun talking trash doing it.

The Timberwolves handed the Lakers yet another blowout loss at the Target Center on Wednesday. After jumping to a 25-point lead midway through the second quarter, Minnesota cruised to a 124-104 win, which marked its ninth win in 10 games.

Beverley and his teammates made sure the Lakers knew they were getting blown out, too. Right before halftime, Beverley came up with a huge steal off Russell Westbrook, and then very clearly called him “trash” after the play stopped on the other end.

Beverley then started mocking LeBron James and screamed in his face before he smacked him on the side playfully.

James, though, didn’t look happy.

The clowning didn’t stop there. Late in the fourth quarter, Westbrook completely air-balled a shot from the corner. Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns, who caught the ball with almost no effort, then had the perfect reaction.

Towns finished the night with 30 points, 16 of which came in the fourth quarter, and Anthony Edwards dropped 27 while hitting six shots from behind the arc.

"I like the fact that we have confidence. I like the fact that we play with a lot of emotion," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Chris Hine. "We also have to realize, like, we have to also mature a little bit and act like we've been there before because we have. So far this season we have."

James led the Lakers with 19 points in the loss, but shot just 1-of-8 from the 3-point line. Westbrook finished with 15 points and five assists, and shot just 5-of-12 from the field.

As a team, the Lakers shot just 22.2% from behind the arc, and were out-rebounded by 13.

Though it seemed to bother them in the moment, both James and Westbrook insisted afterward that they weren’t upset with the trash talk on Wednesday night. James said simply that “it’s part of the game.”

Westbrook, however, has a slightly different mindset.

“I honestly don’t pay no mind to it, maybe other guys … they weren’t talking to me,” Westbrook said, via Spectrum SportsNet. "They were talking to individual guys particularly, but the trash talk doesn’t bother me none. Nobody over there has done anything in this league that makes me put my eyes up like, ‘Oh they’re talking, I need to respond.’ No. It’s fine.”

While that may be so — Westbrook is a former league MVP, after all — the Timberwolves are playing much, much better than Westbrook and the Lakers right now. They are a full 11 games ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference standings, and the Lakers have dropped 12 of their last 15 contests.

That has to give them at least a little credibility.

Patrick Beverley of the Minnesota Timberwolves
Patrick Beverley and the Timberwolves rolled over the Lakers on Wednesday night. (David Berding/Getty Images)