NBA Western Conference

The NBA announced Saturday that Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley was suspended one game without pay for shoving Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul late in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday:

The following was released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/5zaKpoFiGr

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) July 3, 2021

The incident occurred with the Suns holding a 118-92 lead with 5:49 remaining. Beverley was given a technical foul and ejected:

Patrick Beverley was ejected after shoving Chris Paul from behind. pic.twitter.com/z0GFL1tb6J

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 1, 2021

Phoenix won 130-103 to clinch the series and its first trip to the NBA Finals since 1993.

On Thursday, Beverley apologized for the shove on Twitter:

@CP3 emotions got the best of me last night gang. My bad wasn’t meant for you. Congrats on making it to the Finals. Best of Luck 🤞🏾

— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) July 1, 2021

The 32-year-old has long been known as one of the best perimeter defenders and agitators in the NBA.

A nine-year veteran, Beverley has spent the past four seasons with the Clippers after beginning his career with the Houston Rockets.

In 37 regular-season games, including 34 starts, Beverley averaged 7.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 three-pointers in 2020-21. He also shot 42.3 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from deep.

His numbers were down during the playoffs, though, as he averaged just 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.8 threes while shooting 42.6 percent overall and 35.1 from range.

For his career, the three-time All-Defensive selection averages 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 trifectas per contest during the regular season.

L.A. overcame 2-0 deficits in each of its first two series, but it could not do the same against Phoenix.

The absence of superstar forward Kawhi Leonard, who missed the Clippers' final eight playoff games with a right knee injury, undoubtedly played a role.

Expectations were high for the Clippers when they landed Leonard and Paul George prior to the 2019-20 season, but they have failed to reach the NBA Finals in each of the past two seasons, and their frustration was apparent late in Game 6.

Houston Rockets star James Harden called out his teammates Tuesday night in an effort to force a trade, but DeMarcus Cousins indicated this was nothing new.

"The disrespect started way before any interview," Cousins told reporters Wednesday. "Just the approach to training camp, showing up the way he did, the antics off the court, I mean the disrespect started way before. So this isn't something all of a sudden happened last night."

The Rockets lost their second straight game to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, leading Harden to state his team is "just not good enough—chemistry, talentwise, just everything."

"It is completely unfair to the rest of the guys in the locker room," Cousins said of Harden.

Harden had been seeking a trade since before the start of the season and was a late arrival to training camp. Though he has played in eight of nine games this year, he is averaging just 24.8 points per game, nearly 10 points worse than last year's NBA-leading mark of 34.3.

The Rockets have struggled to a 3-6 mark after reaching the playoffs in eight straight seasons.

It appears Cousins is ready to move on from the eight-time All-Star:

Boogie on if Harden could play with the team again: I don’t know. But I honestly don’t care.

— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) January 13, 2021

Marc Stein of the New York Times reported Houston has ramped up trade talks and could move Harden by Wednesday, with the Philadelphia 76ers considered a likely destination.

Cousins is in his first season with the Rockets after signing a one-year deal in the offseason. He spent part of last season with the Los Angeles Lakers but didn't play a single game after tearing his ACL during the offseason.

Damian Lillard had an encouraging thought about the Golden State Warriors immediately after his Game 7 win Sunday.

"They're due," the Portland Trail Blazers star said, indicating a series loss could be coming soon.

However, Lillard later said at media availability that he didn't say that, per Trail Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl.

Lillard's words supposedly came in a response to a ball boy discussing the upcoming round with him, per Royce Young of ESPN.com. The Trail Blazers were certainly confident at that moment, immediately after a 100-96 win over the Denver Nuggets to reach the Western Conference Finals. 

Of course, beating the Warriors will be a whole different challenge.

Golden State has won the last two NBA titles and has won the West in each of the last four years. The consistent winning could make them "due" for a loss if they were an average team getting lucky, but they have been dominant throughout this stretch.

In only two series of the past three years has the team even faced an elimination game in the West—last year's Western Conference Finals against the Houston Rockets and 2016's against the Oklahoma City Thunder—and the squad has only lost 14 total playoff games in that stretch.

For perspective, the Blazers lost 10 straight playoff games coming into this year's postseason.

This is part of the reason why Portland is a significant underdog going into the upcoming series:

Will the Warriors roll to their 5th straight finals? ✍ pic.twitter.com/7VbrAFYvhg

— br_betting (@br_betting) May 12, 2019

However, Lillard and CJ McCollum have each showed the ability to take over games this postseason and they have a chance to keep it going in the conference finals. With Kevin Durant less than 100 percent, perhaps Lillard will get his wish as he tries to reach the NBA finals.

Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton reportedly won't be suspended or fined by the NBA for poking Portland Trail Blazers guard Seth Curry in the eye during Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Thursday.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported the update Friday.

Barton and Curry each received a technical foul for the altercation, while the Nuggets' Torrey Craig and Blazers' Zach Collins were also T'd up for their role in the same skirmish during the fourth quarter. Portland scored a 119-108 victory to force a Game 7.

Afterward, Curry said he wasn't happy with the Nuggets sixth man's actions.

"He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye," Curry told reporters. "You know what I'm saying. I can't allow people to put their fingers in my eye. That's real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can't allow that."

Barton noted after the game he didn't think his role in the incident warranted missing Game 7.

"I ain't worried about no fines," he said. "I ain't trippin' off that. Hopefully, [there's] no suspension off that. I think if I [did something to get] suspended, I would probably have gotten ejected."

Barton has struggled with his shooting throughout the playoffs. He's connected on just 34.1 percent of his attempts from the field, including 33 percent in the second round.

The Nuggets will hope he bounces back with a strong performance in Game 7. The winner-take-all contest  takes place Sunday at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the team expects Kevin Durant to return if it advances to the Western Conference Finals.

"I think it's good news. Calf strain...he's had them before, and he's responded well," Kerr told reporters Thursday. "Obviously, we're disappointed he won't be able to play in this series. But if we're able to win the series and move on, it looks good for his return in the not-too-distant future."

Steve Kerr categorized the KD news as positive. If they advance, he can return in “not too distant future.” pic.twitter.com/eLnuCx2FQg

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 10, 2019

Durant has been ruled out of Game 6 on Friday and a potential Game 7 on Sunday of the Warriors' second-round series against the Houston Rockets after going down in the third quarter of Wednesday night's 104-99 Golden State victory. The non-contact injury had some speculating that Durant had suffered an Achilles injury, but tests showed only a minor calf strain.

The Warriors said Thursday that Durant will be reevaluated in a week.

“During the timeout, we all looked at each other, and there were a couple of smiles in terms of like what that meant for us as a team and the guys that were going to need to step up in those moments," Stephen Curry told reporters after Game 5. “Next-man-up mentality, Draymond (Green) said that at some point in that timeout."

Durant has been the Warriors' best and most consistent player throughout these playoffs, so Curry and Klay Thompson are going to have to shoulder the load against the Rockets. The Warriors are heavy underdogs for Friday night's Game 6 but can take solace in the fact they outscored Houston after Durant's injury Wednesday.

The most important factor here is Durant will be fine over the long term, which is good news for the Warriors and the NBA in general. 

James Harden isn't overawed as the Houston Rockets prepare for their second-round series against the Golden State Warriors.

"We're a very confident group of guys," Harden said, per ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon. "We're more than capable. We're excited about the opportunity. We know the difficulties and the challenges that are going to come along that way, but we're prepared for them."

In three of the past four seasons, the Warriors have dumped the Rockets out of the playoffs. Most recently, Golden State reeled off two straight wins against Houston after trailing 3-2 in the series to close out the 2018 Western Conference Finals.

Harden's confidence isn't misplaced, though.

The Rockets won three of their four head-to-head meetings in the regular season. Most importantly, Golden State is coming off a first round in which it looked very sluggish against the Los Angeles Clippers.

A team that lost DeAndre Jordan in the offseason and traded away its best player (Tobias Harris) in the middle of the year pushed the two-time defending champions to six games. Ultimately, the Clippers simply had no answer for Kevin Durant, who averaged 35.0 points while shooting 56.7 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Houston will undoubtedly have a hard time keeping Durant in check. Unlike Los Angeles, it also has an offense that should be able to keep pace with Golden State and potentially further expose what was a shaky Warriors defense in the opening round.

According to NBA.com, the Warriors had a 111.5 defensive rating to open the playoffs, compared to a 108.5 defensive rating in the regular season.

Granted, the Rockets will need more from Harden than they got against the Utah Jazz. The MVP contender shot 37.4 percent from the field in the series. Houston still won when Harden shot 3-of-20—as he did in Game 3. That won't happen against the Warriors.

Harden and the Rockets can make an emphatic statement this year with a win in Game 1, which tips off Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The Golden State Warriors are -280 favorites ($280 bet to net $100) to win their NBA Western Conference second-round playoff series over the Houston Rockets. 

The Caesars Palace sportsbook (h/t B/R Betting) posted the odds.

Houston beat Golden State in three of four regular-season games and have won 24 of its last 29 matchups (including playoffs), so the Rockets could be a shrewd pick at +240 ($100 bet to net $240).

The team also took Golden State to the seven-game limit in last year's Western Conference Finals, and that was with Rockets point guard Chris Paul missing Games 6 and 7 with a right hamstring injury.

However, the Warriors' near-invincible core four of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson has made a combined 24 All-Star Games and three NBA MVP awards. Golden State has lost just eight playoff games over the past two-plus seasons and is looking to win its third straight NBA Finals.

The sportsbooks also like Golden State's championship odds: The Dubs are favored over the postseason field to win the NBA Finals, per Vegas Insider.

Golden State will host Game 1 on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

The NBA released the schedule for the highly anticipated playoff rematch between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets.

ESPN's Rachel Nichols tweeted out the full schedule for Games 1-4 as well as Game 5, 6 and 7 if necessary:

Here’s the full Rockets-Warriors schedule. Kiss your loved ones and tell them you’ll see them in a couple weeks. pic.twitter.com/9ACPTk82MP

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 27, 2019

The Warriors and Rockets met in a classic series last season in the Western Conference Finals, when Golden State overcame a 3-2 series deficit to win in seven games before sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.

Last season, the Rockets were the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and the Warriors were No. 2. Golden State regained the No. 1 seed this season, but Houston dropped to No. 4, which is why they are meeting in the second round.

Despite the fact that Golden State is a better seed, it can be argued that Houston has been the better team in the playoffs thus far.

The Warriors shockingly dropped two games to the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers before closing them out in Game 6 on Friday behind a 50-point performance by Kevin Durant.

Meanwhile, the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz in five games, marking the second consecutive season in which they eliminated Utah.

Houston got off to a slow start this season with point guard Chris Paul and center Clint Capela both missing time because of injury, which left guard James Harden to carry the load. They are healthy now, though, and entered the playoffs as one of the NBA's hottest teams.

Even so, the Warriors are -260 (bet $260 to win $100) favorites to win the series, while the Rockets are +210 underdogs, per Action Network.

The battle between Golden State and Houston could rage on for two weeks due, in part, to a scheduling quirk that includes three off days between Game 2 in Oakland and Game 3 in Houston.

Golden State is hoping to reach the Western Conference Finals for the fifth consecutive season before going on to win its third straight championship and fourth in five years.

This season may represent the Warriors' last chance to win a title in the near future. While Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are still under contract, Durant and Klay Thompson could leave in free agency.

The Rockets are likely desperate to make the Finals as well since CP3 (34 on May 6) is getting up there in age, and they haven't played for a championship since winning it all in 1995.

Winning the second-round series would represent a major step toward a championship for both franchises, and the winner would likely be the favorite to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.