As the race for the NBA playoff positioning intensifies, so too does the fervor coming from its fans. However, there comes a point when that fervor turns into unwarranted animosity, and that's what may have occurred in Monday night's game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz.
The Thunder came away with a crucial 98-89 road win over the Jazz in Salt Lake City, bumping Utah back down 2.5 games behind Oklahoma City for the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.
Fighting for home-court advantage this late into the season is every postseason hopeful's goal, and the Thunder just one-upped the Jazz in rather convincing fashion in front of their home crowd.
OKC's Russell Westbrook led his team to victory with a superb 23-11-8 stat line — much to the dismay of the Jazz faithful in attendance. So much so that one particular courtside fan was caught on camera getting into verbal fisticuffs with Westbrook.
Jazz reporter Eric Woodyard shared a clip of Monday night's altercation, with some NSFW language clearly being hurled by one riled up Russ.
Things get heated between Russell Westbrook and Utah Jazz fans again. “I’ll f*ck you up. You and your wife,” he says. Not sure what these fans said to him, but he also had issues with Jazz fans during the postseason. pic.twitter.com/LquwRmLVNy
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) March 12, 2019
Although it wasn't clear what the fan had said to Russell Westbrook to set the OKC star off into a fit of rage, this scene does not look good for both parties. For one, Westbrook's fiery persona reared its uglier side and at the expense of a fan yet again.
On the other hand, Utah's generally known to be one of the more civil and friendly places in the United States, which is contrary to what Jazz home fans have been exhibiting of late. As mentiones, however, this is not the first time that Westbrook confronted Utah fans in a not so endearing manner.
Let's all hope that all of this will be water under the bridge come the postseason, where odds are the Thunder and Jazz could easily find themselves playing against one another in the very first round.
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