The Thunder hosts the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night in a game essentially for third place in the Western Conference standings. It’s also a renewal of one of the NBA’s more underrated rivalries: Russell Westbrook vs. Damian Lillard.
The Portland point guard was drafted in 2012, became NBA Rookie of the Year and soon enough was on the opposite side of Westbrook tiffs several times a year. Westbrook clearly plays the Blazers with a chip on his shoulder. Who knows why?
Westbrook famously has feuds with a variety of NBA players. Some of them have obvious genesis.