The shellacking the NBA regular season-best Phoenix Suns got from the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of their playoff series Sunday was, as one might guess, a major topic of conversation on sports talk shows Monday.
Two of the shows that have generated a lot of buzz on Twitter were ESPN’s “Get Up” and “First Take,” as Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley and the retired JJ Redick were featured.
At one point, discussion turned toward how Suns head coach Monty Williams benched big man Deandre Ayton in the second half, but Beverley said he felt it should have been a different player who got benched — Chris Paul.
.@patbev21 says the Suns should've benched Chris Paul instead of Deandre Ayton 👀
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 16, 2022
"They benched the wrong person. They should've benched Chris."
(via @GetUpESPN) pic.twitter.com/wjMBWVybRV
It should be noted that Beverley and Paul have a history of not exactly being best friends, but to Beverley’s point, Paul scored just 10 points with four assists, a rebound and a steal, and he wasn’t good on the defensive end of the floor either.
“They benched the wrong person. Should’ve benched Chris,” Beverley said. “... Once you see them start attacking Chris (defensively) early and you know that might become a problem later on, you need to see how my team works without Chris in the game a little bit ... coach the game, not the player.”
Redick responded, “I think there’s some validity to that, and I’ll say because of the way (the Mavericks) were playing Devin Booker ... if CP is unwilling to shoot, unwilling to be aggressive, I agree with that.”