The Russell Westbrook experience has been a roller coaster ride for many fanbases in recent years, and this season it is the Denver Nuggets' turn to ride. Westbrook has had his dramatic ups and downs all season for a Nuggets team that has been filled with chaos. Game 1 of their first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers was no different.

Westbrook was all over the place over the first three quarters, supplementing solid defensive plays and great passes on offense with reckless, careless giveaways that triggered Clippers fast breaks. The fourth quarter, however, was a different beast.

Westbrook, getting the nod to close the game as the fifth guy in the Denver lineup over Michael Porter Jr., hit everything on the former MVP's bingo card. He made a handful of phenomenal hustle plays and grabbed a few huge offensive rebounds. Then, in two of the biggest moments of the game, Westbrook knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer near the end of regulation and forced a massive turnover at the end of overtime.

The Clippers, predictably, did not pay much attention to Westbrook when the Nuggets had the ball. Tyronn Lue and company were happy to allow Westbrook to shoot, but the future Hall-of-Famer didn't mind the blatant disrespect after the game, via ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

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“We can talk about that more when we take care of business,” Westbrook said shortly after admitting that he did notice the way he was being defended.

Of course, this is nothing new to Westbrook and he will likely continue to see similar coverages throughout the rest of the playoffs. After all, the strategy allowed Los Angeles to take away Jamal Murray at the end of the game and send extra bodies at Nikola Jokic.

Westbrook may not end up closing every game for the Nuggets if Porter has better games moving forward. Porter was a complete non-factor in Game 1 after knocking down an early 3-pointer and was eventually benched in the fourth quarter.

Regardless of how the Clippers are defending Westbrook, the Nuggets need more of the same from him over the course of the rest of the series if they want to come out on top.