Donovan Mitchell on Patrick Beverley: 'He’s first-team All-Defense for a reason'

Donovan Mitchell has high praise for Patrick Beverley

Patrick Beverley is one of the most polarizing players in the NBA. He's the walking definition of a player you'd love to have on your team, but hate to go against. Donovan Mitchell had nothing but respect for him after playing against him the last two games.

“Gotta give credit to Patrick Beverley," Mitchell said. "He’s first-team All-Defense for a reason."

Mitchell had clutch moments in his two games against the Clippers, but he largely struggled in stretches against Patrick Beverley. Here were Mitchell's box scores in back-to-back games against the Clippers:

2/17: 24 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 turnovers, 9/22 FGs, 2/6 3P
2/19: 35 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 12/27 FGs, 4/11 3P

More specifically, the first quarter stretches against Patrick Beverley is when Mitchell struggled the most. Here's a sample size during the first half on February 17:

When Patrick Beverley is guarding: 5 PTS, 2-9 FG, 0-3 3FG
When Patrick Beverley isn't guarding: 7 PTS, 3-5 FG, 1-1 3FG

"He made my life hard to start the game", Mitchell said. He kind of set the tone. That was credit to him. I give him credit for that... Give Pat his credit. He's a hell of a defender."

The instigating and polarizing nature of Patrick Beverley's play has typically made it hard for other players to give him his credit. Players like Russell Westbrook have claimed that Beverley "just runs around, doing nothing."

While players may not like Patrick Beverley, they have to respect him, and that's exactly what Donovan Mitchell did.