The Denver Nuggets prevailed over the OKC Thunder in a hard-fought, overtime thriller.
The biggest beef of the game, however, was between Russell Westbrook and Nuggets mascot Rocky. Russ trolled the fans in Denver by goaltending two of his halfcourt attempts.
Per the Denver Post:
“Fans now have a villain,” Ty Lawson said.
See, SuperMascot Rocky shoots backwards halfcourt shots during a fourth-quarter timeout of every game. If he makes one, fans get free Qdoba queso. It’s perhaps the most-popular during-timeout thing they do at Nugget games. Well, Rocky’s final attempt appeared to be going in, but the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, walking onto the court, jumped up and blocked/goaltended the shot. The arena erupted in boos and fans continued to boo so every time Westbrook touched the basketball. So that was bad enough, right? Rocky returned to midcourt again during the next timeout. And Westbrook, again, caught the shot, this time throwing the ball into the stands.
“Russell made a lot of friends here,” Nuggets coach George Karl said sarcastically, following Denver’s 121-118 win. “He’s a feisty guy who likes to create intensity. I like intensity. I’m sure the next time we’ll have some locker room talk. I saw him block the shot and then he threw the ball into the crowd. I know in the rule book it says you’re not allowed to throw the ball into the crowd.” […] Karl was told it wasn’t the actual game ball, but just one that Rocky was using. “Well that’s a good question — he did throw a ball into the crowd,” Karl said. “Maybe I can call the league office on that tomorrow, along with 20 other things.”
