Russell Westbrook says Patrick Beverley isn't a good defender, but the stats don't back up his claim

Rockets star Russell Westbrook and Clippers guard Patrick Beverley have a history. Let's just start there.

Beverley knocked Westbrook out of the 2013 playoffs when he collided with Westbrook's knee on a steal attempt, resulting in a torn right meniscus for Westbrook. The next year, Beverley swiped the ball away from Westbrook on a similar play, and the two had to be separated along the sideline. In the 2017 playoffs, Westbrook committed a hard foul on Beverley and smacked him below the belt. Just last season, Beverley dove for a loose ball and drilled Westbrook's right knee again, leading to another confrontation and technical fouls on both players.

MORE: Austin Rivers happy to see dad ejected from Rockets-Clippers game

So, yeah, these guys don't like each other. All of those incidents packed together made Westbrook's feelings after Houston's 102-93 win over Los Angeles on Wednesday night easier to understand. Westbrook noted that Beverley's primary assignment, James Harden, finished with a game-high 47 points and dismissed the idea that Beverley is an elite defender.

"Pat Bev trick y'all, man, like he play defense," Westbrook said. "He don't guard nobody, man. He just running around, doing nothing."

Russell Westbrook (@russwest44)on Pat Beverley (@patbev21): “Pat Bev trick y’all man, like he play defense. He don’t guard nobody man. He just running around doing nothing..As you seen what happened 47. All that commotion and (@jharden) got 47.” pic.twitter.com/WaJ5D0Q1U5

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) November 14, 2019

When asked by ESPN's Tim MacMahon about Westbrook's comments, Beverley simply said, "I don't care about that." He doesn't need to offer a response because the numbers back up his reputation.

In the Rockets' victory, Harden scored his 47 points on 12-of-26 shooting from the field (7-of-13 from 3-point range) and missed only one of his 17 free throw attempts. However, Harden went 0-of-6 from the field against Beverley with four turnovers, per ESPN Stats and Info. Harden hit five free throws as a result of Beverley fouls with one of those free throws coming after a technical foul.

Harden dropped 47 points Wednesday night, but was 0-6 when Pat Bev was his primary defender. pic.twitter.com/GMKhKJyGeE

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 14, 2019

Beverley fouled out of the game with 1:57 remaining in regulation and the Clippers down two points. Harden either scored or assisted on every Houston bucket in the final two minutes.

"At least James could take the coat off of him," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said after the game, referring to Beverley fouling out. "He was bugging the hell out of him. James was swatting, like, 'Get out of here.' Patrick's one of my favorite players. He's all in it for the right reasons. He's what you want on your team. If you want to win, you get guys like that."

Now, there could be some thought that Beverley got lucky in one game. Could he slow down Harden over a larger sample size?

Well, he performs about as well as any single defender can. Here is the matchup data from ESPN's Kirk Goldsberry:

(Note: Minimum of at least 35 matchups with Harden over last two seasons.)

And if that isn't convincing enough, through 11 games, the Clippers' defensive rating jumps from 97.9 with Beverley on the floor to 109.3 with him on the bench. Beverley was the only member of the team's starting unit with a positive plus-minus rating in the loss to Houston, finishing plus-7 in 27 minutes of action.

No one is arguing that Beverley should be renamed "The Harden Stopper." He tries to make life difficult for Harden, who is going to score no matter what opposing coaches throw at him. Beverley has his limitations defensively, and Clippers coach Doc Rivers would likely switch Paul George or Kawhi Leonard onto Harden if a playoff game is down to a final possession.

But to say Beverley is doing "nothing" on the defensive end is simply inaccurate. Westbrook may not like to hear that, but the facts back it up.