Point guards around the NBA know that when they’re facing the Clippers they’re going to have to deal with the intensity and physicality of Patrick Beverley.
The veteran point guard toes the line of intense and dirty at times, with some — namely Russell Westbrook — thinking he crosses said line with some of his play. That aggression, typically on the defensive end and in chasing down loose balls, is why he’s been in the league as long as he has, and he’s unapologetic about his style of play.
On Sunday night against the Mavericks, Beverley found himself tussling with Dennis Smith Jr. on the ground over a loose ball and an inadvertent elbow from Beverley caught Smith Jr. in the mouth, knocking out one of his front teeth.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderNBA/status/1069405696553304064
Smith Jr. was, unsurprisingly, not pleased with this, but it looked like Beverley was genuinely apologetic as he realized he caught Smith Jr. in the face while they wrestled for the ball. Smith Jr. wasn’t exactly willing to accept his efforts to help him up and went off to the locker room missing a front tooth, but quickly returned to win the jump ball against Beverley before leaving again to get tended to.
.@Dennis1SmithJr lost a tooth, but won the jump ball. 💪 pic.twitter.com/RFiZgQCQcl
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) December 3, 2018
Beverley returned wearing a mouthguard and the tooth was actually broken, not knocked out clean.
I’m told that the tooth technically was broken, not knocked out. Ouch. Smith is wearing a mouthguard and flying around in the fourth quarter. https://t.co/40HyC0wwBA
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 3, 2018
Dental work probably wasn’t something Smith Jr. was hoping to have to deal with any time soon, but one would think he’ll be getting a new or fixed front tooth in the near future.
