And Beverley hounded Curry throughout the game. With 1:28 to play in the second quarter, Beverley forced Curry into a turnover, turned and jawed at the Golden State bench. Beverley then squared off with Curry at the other end of the floor and began talking trash. “You had the last five years,” Beverley told Curry, according to a source. “The next five years are mine.” To that, Curry laughed and replied, “Aren’t you 31?” Indeed, both Curry and Beverley are 31 and have a long history together—the two have been friends since they were roommates at various camps when they were teenagers, including the camps hosted by Paul Pierce and LeBron James.
Newly signed Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard became an unexpected target of Lakers legends Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on Wednesday after comments from Bryant about O’Neal surfaced. O’Neal’s lack of respect for Howard was such that he refused to even spell his name correctly. But as the eight-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer prepares to join the Lakers for a second time while fighting for his NBA livelihood, he says he has no time or energy to worry about what O’Neal says. Howard was asked about Shaq’s comments during a stream on Instagram Live and Howard referred to whatever Shaq or anyone says as “irrelevant.”
Boston has won 17 of the last 19 regular-season meetings, the last of which was a 112-109 victory in Philadelphia in February. Embiid believed he'd been fouled by Al Horford in the final minute -- the NBA's Last 2-Minute Report would later agree -- and was fined for his public criticism of the officiating that included profanity. He used more profanity the next night when explaining why he was so angry. "It was against Boston again which I (expletive) hate. I'm sorry, which I hate," Embiid said.
A Mark Cuban and Lil Wayne feud is one of the main storylines of the NBA playoffs? That seems to be the case as the Mavs owner and famous rapper have exchanged NSFW blows with one another on social media. Cuban’s dog in the fight is that he is obviously the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. However, Lil Wayne was cheering for the Suns and is a friend of Chris Paul. Lil Wayne had previously called out Mavs star Luka Doncic during the Suns and Mavs series.
Even Butler, who sometimes seems to actually enjoy creating conflict on his team, wondered whether this was a breaking point, sources said. Two days later, after Spoelstra missed a game because of an unrelated personal matter, he returned, reset and ready. Butler was relieved, so was the rest of the team, and everyone started over, because at the end of the day and the end of the season, Butler is worth it. What he brings, especially in a playoff setting, buys him more leeway. It’s the NBA way — always has been, and always will be. It’s a little tougher at times for the Heat, an organization that thrives on holding players to high standards and not being afraid to attack problems, but it’s true just the same.