Lonzo Ball made his long-anticipated Los Angeles Lakers debut on Thursday night against the LA Clippers and fans were left with much disappointment with his performance. Ball scored just three points on 1-6 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. That dud left Staples Center's Lakers fans quiet for most of the second half as they saw their team go down by as many as 30 points.

Sure it was Ball's debut, but the reason he had a bad game was because of the team across the hallway and the point guard they boasted in Patrick Beverley. The 29-year old point guard locked down Ball in his debut, getting physical every opportunity, picking his pocket on one play and leaving him on the hardwood, as well as knocking him down for an obvious foul that got the crowd fired up. According to ESPN Stats and Info, on the 29 plays that Beverley was defending Ball, the Lakers guard went 0-2 from the floor and only had three assist opportunities.

Patrick Beverley, Lonzo Ball
USA TODAY Sports

Immediately following the game, Patrick Beverley could be heard screaming something along the lines of “Weak a** m****rf****r!” from inside the Clippers locker room as L.A.'s road team for the night celebrated a dominant victory against their hallway rivals once again, their 15th in the last 16 games against the Lakers.

When asked to go into detail, Beverley took a calmer approach, but was still his fiery, aggressive self.

“It's a friendly rivalry,” said Beverley. “I just got here and I'm embracing the rivalry. It's fun though man, it was was competitive. Just to get back on the court [for the] first game, it's the best atmosphere, on the best stage in one of the best cities.”

It started out in the first quarter between the two following the first timeout of the game. Lonzo Ball was going to receive an inbounds pass and had to bring the ball up the length of the court. But who was there breathing down his neck? Mr. 94 Feet himself, already putting pressure on him before the referee blew the whistle to resume play. Ball pushed off Beverley a bit, which sent him back a few feet, but Beverley picked him back up, and as soon as Ball managed to cross halfcourt, Beverley pushed him right back and stood next to him looking down at Ball in an obvious ‘welcome to the league' moment.

“I just had to set the tone,” added Beverley. “I told him after the game, due to all the riff-raff his dad brings, he's going to get a lot of people coming at him. He has to be ready for that and I let him know after the game. What better way to start than ‘Mr. 94 Feet' guarding him to welcome his little young ass to the NBA?”

Patrick Beverley Steal
Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press

Beverley looked as energetic as ever to come in and play his usual lockdown defense, but he also finished with 10 points on 4-12 shooting, three rebounds, two steals, and one assist in just 24 minutes of action. After the performance, head coach Doc Rivers discussed the energy he just never thought was real until he saw it for himself this training camp and preseason.

“I think he is just motivated every night,” said Rivers. “I have never seen him not motivated. It's just who he is. You should see him in practice. He reminds me a lot of Kevin Garnett. You don't think all that energy is for real when you're on the other side. Then, you get him on your team and you realize, no, this is him every day. He's deadly serious about basketball and he's extremely competitive. That's just who he is.”

This all started when Ball's father, LaVar, said that he thought Lonzo could hold his own when going up against one of the league's premier offensive point guards in Stephen Curry. Beverley responded with a tweet saying that he'll have to play against him first on opening night.

When asked if he looked at the schedule as soon as it came out to sort of circle this game, Beverley was his blunt self once again.

“Hell yeah,” said Beverley. “You're damn right I paid attention to the schedule. For me, being a new acquisition to the Clippers. I didn't even know about the rivalry until Lou Will told me. The rivalry is big and we were fortunate to go out there and get the win. It was electric tonight.”

Patrick Beverley, Lonzo Ball 2
Harry How/ Getty Images

Lonzo Ball's season isn't going to get any easier, as his Lakers take on Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns next. They'll also have to see Patrick Beverley's Clippers three more times this season, and after LaVar Ball's comments about Patrick Beverley after the opening night game, you can be sure Beverley has the next matchup on November 27th circled.