Since Kevin Durant's decision to part ways from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Golden State Warriors, there has been much attention thrown toward the relationship between he and Russell Westbrook. It has constantly been the leading storyline when the top teams take the floor against each other over the last two seasons.
This has once again become a topic of discussion with the final matchup of the regular season between the teams set for Tuesday night. With that in mind, former All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony stated sarcastically that facing the Warriors doesn't provide extra motivation for Westbrook.
Carmelo Anthony gave the most sarcastic answer I’ve seen in a long time when asked if the Warriors bring out some extra fire in Russell Westbrook: “No, no, no, no, no. I didn’t notice that. I never noticed that.” pic.twitter.com/k5DBNQcHBv
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 2, 2018
With the type of response that Anthony has given, it's clear that Westbrook has extra motivation whenever he takes the floor against his former longtime teammate. In the three games played this season against the Warriors, he is averaging a near triple-double with 27.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 8.3 assists along with 2.0 steals per contest. Unlike last season, Oklahoma City has grabbed a pair of wins against Golden State this year with one coming at Oracle Arena.
Although the fire has cooled a bit between Westbrook and Durant as time has passed along, the matchup against the defending champions has provided an opportunity for the reigning league MVP to step his game up. Regardless if he will admit it or not, his play and fiery nature on the court during those games is quite evident that he takes it quite personally.
This meeting will hold some significant weight since the Thunder have yet to clinch a playoff spot with four games to go in the regular season. A win would essentially secure them a playoff spot while keeping their shot at garnering home-court advantage in the first round alive. They are currently just a 0.5 game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the fourth spot in the Western Conference standings. Personal motivation aside from the contest, there should highly determined play from Westbrook on Tuesday night.
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