OKC Thunder series matchup: Brewing rivalry of Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard

The OKC Thunder first round series versus the Portland Trail Blazers is destined to offer great matchups. Topping that list is the brewing rivalry between Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard.  

Russell Westbrook is no stranger to rivalries and Damian Lillard is one of his biggest. This year in particular, however, it has seemingly escalated from a Westbrook-Lillard rivalry to a full-blown Thunder-Blazers rivalry.

Lillard has been on the receiving end of Westbrook’s signature “rock the baby” celebration a time or two in his career and earlier this year Evan Turner decided to return the favor for his teammate. Turner, as you can see below, caught Westbrook with a spin move to the rim for a bucket and then hit him with a “rock the baby.” Westbrook responded to this after the game by stating that Turner could “rock it right back to Portland.”

This may not even be the spiciest part of the rivalry this season either. In their last meeting, this season Westbrook and Jusuf Nurkic got into a little altercation that involved a possible trip and a shoulder check at half court. This resulted in a flagrant for Westbrook and a Technical for Nurkic. Unfortunately for all NBA fans, after suffering a devastating leg injury, we won’t get to see the Westbrook-Nurkic rivalry continued in this playoff series.

But the heart of this rivalry always has been Westbrook versus Lillard and we are fortunate enough to get to watch that part of the rivalry in round one of the intense Western Conference Playoffs.