Like the Hatfields and McCoys, Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley aren’t done yet with their long-running feud.
The taunting began early in the first quarter when Westbrook scored on Beverley and then folded his arms like he was rocking a baby as he strolled down the floor.
Beverley returned the favor late in the second quarter, scoring over Westbrook and celebrating with a baby-rocking taunt of his own.
The chippiness continued into the third quarter as the Thunder went on a 20-0 run. The only drama left was the escalating feud between the rivals.
It turned ugly with 6:20 left in the fourth quarter when Beverley dove at Westbrook’s left knee, and both were issued technical fouls after jawing in front of the benches. Police officers stepped onto the court to help keep the teams separated. Upon review, Beverley’s foul was ruled a flagrant 1.
Westbrook didn’t directly address Beverley’s action after the game.
“I have no comment on it,” Westbrook said. “I just know that we won.”
But he did explain the rock-the-baby move.
Westbrook on his rock-the-baby move: “Put em to sleep, you got little kids on you.” pic.twitter.com/yQPW6ln3A9
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) October 31, 2018
The Beverley-Westbrook rivalry goes back to the 2013 playoffs when Beverley, then playing for the Rockets, attempted to steal the ball from Westbrook as he was going to the sideline to call timeout. Westbrook tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee on the play and missed the remainder of that season’s playoffs.
The Thunder and Clippers meet again on Dec. 15.
The long and short of it
Oklahoma native Kristin Chenoweth performed the national anthem before the Clippers-Thunder game and also shared a fun moment with Boban Marjanovic that deserves another look.
.@KChenoweth 🤝 @BobanMarjanovic pic.twitter.com/25071GS9Ga
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) October 30, 2018
The Broadway star stands 4-foot-11, while the Clippers big man is 7-foot-3. Upon closer inspection, you’ll see that Chenoweth is wearing heels and Marjanovich needs only his thumb and index finger to shake her hand.
If you can’t get enough of Marjanovich holding things, check out the subreddit r/bobanholdingthings.
Cavs end season-opening slide
Rodney Hood scored 26 points, one of seven Cavs in double figures, and Cleveland ended its six-game losing streak to start the season, beating the Hawks 136-114.
In case you were wondering, the record for the worst start in NBA history is shared by the 2009-10 Nets and 2015-16 Sixers. Both started 0-18.
All your 0-82 tweets pic.twitter.com/87XxM3py7Q
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 31, 2018
Leonard, Raptors stifle Sixers
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points and put the clamps on Ben Simmons, and the Raptors bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 129-112 victory over the Sixers.
Leonard led Toronto with four steals and the Raptors had 13 in all, hounding Philadelphia into a season-worst 23 turnovers.
“He’s a freak,” Simmons said after the game when asked what it is like to be defended by Leonard. “His hands are huge, he’s got long arms. He’s a great defender.”
Happy Halloween!
With a game tonight against the Mavericks, the Lakers celebrated Halloween on Tuesday with trick-or-treaters at the UCLA Training Center. More photos here.
Meanwhile, Aaron Gordon arrived at work as Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. The resemblance is uncanny. Seriously, have these guys ever appeared in the same place?
Worth noting
• Clippers sixth man extraordinaire Lou Williams surpassed 10,000 career points off the bench, becoming the third player since 1970-71 to reach that mark. The others: Dell Curry and Jamal Crawford.
• The Blazers held the Rockets to 85 points, their fewest in a home game under Mike D’Antoni. Houston is 0-4 at Toyota Center after finishing tied for the best home record in the league last season (34-7).
• Tony Parker scored 24 points and eclipsed 19,000 career points. He’s the seventh international-born player to reach that milestone, joining Dirk Nowitzki, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dominique Wilkins, Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing and Pau Gasol.
