The Utah Jazz have drawn a very tough first-round playoff matchup against the Houston Rockets, and it goes without saying that their biggest challenge will be defending James Harden. Patrick Beverley may or may not be trying to help them handle that.
After Utah’s regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, Beverley was seen having an animated conversation with Jazz forward Jae Crowder. Judging by the body language, many felt Beverley was giving Crowder pointers on how to defend Harden.
@WorldWideWob 90% sure that Patrick Beverley is giving Jae Crowder advice on defending James Harden pic.twitter.com/td4pwHEh6o
— Todd Patton (@ToddPatton) April 11, 2019
There’s no way to know for sure, but that’s probably a good guess. Beverley, who was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team back in 2017, is considered one of the better defenders in the league. He was also teammates with Harden in Houston. Crowder is another defensive-minded player, and he has done a solid job against star players like LeBron James in the past.
Harden averaged an incredible 36.1 points per game during the regular season, so the Jazz will likely look for ways to slow him down rather than stop him. Regardless of what one NBA announcer thinks of Harden’s style of play, it seems to be working for Houston.
