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Watching Andre Roberson play defense is one of more underrated joys of the 2016-17 Oklahoma City Thunder. Roberson is a defensive maestro, as his length, strength, and athleticism gives him the ability to lock down a wide variety of NBA players. His timing and ability to read what opponents want to do also makes him a terror on the defensive side of the floor.
Patrick Beverley learned this lesson the hard way on Thursday night, and Roberson decided to hammer this lesson home by reminding him that he’s an incredible defender. Beverley had an attempt at a layup during Houston’s game against Oklahoma City, but Roberson flew in from the other side of the court to erase the shot attempt. It was a vicious chase-down block by the Thunder’s defensive star, one that will make Beverley think twice whenever he tries to score and Roberson’s in the area.
Here’s the block from another angle. It really is a thing of beauty.
The best part came after, when Roberson took a second to throw up his index finger and hit Beverley with a Dikembe Mutombo-esque finger wag. If the block didn’t get across Roberson’s message that he won’t allow anything easy against the Thunder, wagging his finger definitely got the job done.
