Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley announced on his podcast that he has a torn ligament in his right wrist and will need surgery to repair it.
The recovery timeline is three to four months following surgery, said the Bucks guard. Beverley didn't immediately say whether that was the path he was taking but “in order to fix it” that's what he needs. If Beverley does elect to have surgery on the wrist, that would keep him out for the rest of the season. The NBA Playoffs begin in just a few weeks and the latest the NBA Finals can run is June 23.
Beverley said that he injured the wrist on Sunday before the Bucks' game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He apparently injured it during warmups while going up for a dunk.
Beverley still played 15 minutes off the bench in that game, as the Bucks won 118-93 over the Thunder. Beverley had four rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He missed the Bucks' double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night with the injury.
Patrick Beverley since joining the Bucks
The Bucks acquired Beverley, 35, from the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline last month and he has provided the team with defensive intensity and leadership off the bench.
Bucks teammate Damian Lillard, who used to have beef with Beverley before they were teammates, says he loves playing with him in Milwaukee.
“As an opponent, you hate him when you're playing against him, but on your team, you'd probably love to have someone like that. He brings edge to the team… You gotta have some type of belief, toughness, edge. He brings that to our team and we didn't have a lot of that,”
When the Bucks traded for Patrick Beverley from the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the trade deadline, they knew what they were getting: a defensive guard who's willing to be physical and do the dirty work, whatever it takes to win. As Damian Lillard mentioned, Pat Bev gives Milwaukee that “dog” and “tough” attitude, something they really needed.
The Bucks could have used some of Beverley's fight in Tuesday's game against the Lakers. Los Angeles fought back from a 19-point fourth quarter deficit to steal the game in double-OT. Lakers guard Austin Reaves was the night's hero, though he may have never gotten a chance to excel with Beverley guarding him.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers spoke about the crushing loss.
“I thought it started in the beginning of the third,” Doc Rivers said after the game.
“I just never thought we reached the intensity level that we had for the first half. They got, what, four loose balls, four offensive rebounds in the first few minutes in the third quarter. You have a team down, I think it was 18 right? You have a chance to take that into the third and we didn't do that. We took it from 18 to 10 coming right out of the door, and that gave them hope. And then after that, I just thought we… it'll be a good lesson for us, but we didn't trust the pass tonight. A lot of zero pass shots or one pass shots. And when we play like that, we get away with it some nights because guys make shots. But we lost that trust. And that's something we haven't done… we won't do that very often. But it will scream off the tape and it will be good for us to see.”
The Bucks, with or without Beverley, next take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.
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