Thunder vs. Clippers: Westbrook, Beverley Tussle Brings Police To Court

The Oklahoma City police were summoned to the court during the Thunder’s 128-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, following a bust-up between long-time rivals Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley in the fourth quarter of the game.

The Thunder point guard and Beverley have a long-running feud after the latter was involved in causing Westbrook to suffer a torn meniscus during the 2013 playoff series following a late lunge to try and get a steal. Despite it being over five years ago, bad blood still remains between the two and it came to the fore Tuesday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The taunting between the two players started just minutes into the game and it was Westbrook who got it underway after getting past Beverley to score a layup. Immediately after scoring, the Thunder point guard celebrated by bringing his hands together and mimicking the action of rocking a baby to sleep.

The Clippers guard was not one to stand down and in the second quarter, when he bulldozed his way into the Thunder area to score, he repaid Westbrook in kind with the same celebration. He also ran across the court with his hands clasped together, much to the amusement of everyone watching the game.

The main incident, however, occurred in the fourth quarter when Beverley dove in for a loose ball but instead went into Westbrook taking him down. The collision is certain to have brought flashbacks of the 2013 incident which ended up with latter tearing his meniscus. Westbrook was furious with Beverley’s tackle and was seen mouthing words at the Clippers bench and the incident was said to have escalated from there, according to Clippers NBA reporter Jovan Buha. Both the players had to be separated at half court after which the Oklahoma City police were summoned to keep the two players apart.

The Thunder guard and his Clippers counterpart were given technical fouls for their parts in the incident, while Beverley was also handed a flagrant foul 1 after the officials reviewed footage of his collision with Westbrook. Beverley maintained he had no intention to collide with Westbrook as he was just making a play for the loose ball. He also believed it was wrong on the official’s part to give him a foul, but was ready to accept their decision and move on.

“Somebody walked to our bench doing all that cappin’ stuff. I don’t know what that is. Things kinda went haywire from there,” Beverley said after the game about how the incident with Westbrook escalated after their collision. “Two competitors, no one’s gonna back down and no one did, received two technical continue playing.”

“I did not as I feel I went for the loose ball. I don’t know, I went for a loose ball but the refs looked at the footage and decided it was a [flagrant] I have to accept that,” he added talking about receiving the flagrant foul 1.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers backed his player after the game and said he did not think it was a “dirty” play at all, revealing they do tell their players to dive for the loose ball.

“I didn’t think it was a dirty play at all. I haven’t seen it (again) but I thought Pat got to the ball first. It was a loose ball. We tell our guys to dive for the ball,” Rivers said after their 128-110 loss.