After a bit of a sluggish start, the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder played a high-intensity game on Wednesday night. Fans showered Paul George with boos, and the young Lakers fought hard to shut down superstar Russell Westbrook, but the matchup ultimately went the way of the Thunder.
One big play came at the end of the first half with George getting the better of his former teammate and close friend Lance Stephenson. After stripping Stephenson on one end, George would then draw a foul and hit the jumper, leading to Westbrook trolling the Lakers by stealing Stephenson’s signature air guitar celebration.
“Was I thinking about it? I wasn’t thinking about no damn guitar. It was an and-1. Having fun, per usual. That’s it,” Westbrook explained after the win.
George, who nearly broke into an air guitar celebration himself, initially wasn’t aware of what Westbrook had done. “I didn’t see it live, I saw it off a replay. Funny,” George said.
The moment was undoubtedly an entertaining one and Westbrook is known for being extremely intense as well as one of the biggest trash talkers in the NBA. Taking the time to troll Lance, who is also known for his trash talking ability should come as no surprise.
RUSS IS DOING LANCE STEPHENSON'S CELEBRATION ???????? pic.twitter.com/4409imZaL8
— ESPN (@espn) January 3, 2019
Coincidentally, that celebration was likely Westbrook’s biggest highlight of the night as the Lakers defense held him to just 3-for-20 shooting. He did however, end up with a triple-double finishing with 14 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, showing his ability to impact the game even without scoring.
Stephenson took everything in stride, simply turning away from Westbrook knowing that the former MVP is known to do things like that. Someone as animated as Lance is sure to have times where it comes back on him and that is exactly what happened.
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