Patrick Beverley Is Clearly Getting Under Russell Westbrook's Skin

Patrick Beverley and the Houston Rockets took down the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday night in a 118-87 blowout. A huge part of the Rockets plan was for Beverley to harass Russell Westbrook endlessly and just generally annoy him. It worked, as Westbrook had his worst game in weeks. But more than the stats, there’s clear visual evidence Beverley is getting under Russ’s skin.

Look at this shot in the first half of Beverley following and mocking Westbrook’s posture and movements exactly:

" lollllll i love how amazing of a troll Patrick Beverley is, he out here synchronizing his movements with Russ like a game of ‘Simon Says’ ? pic.twitter.com/gqGRhbURWK — Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) April 17, 2017 "

Russ does not look happy.

Then today, Westbrook’s official Twitter account liked the following picture:

That picture of course depicts what happened after this play:

" Oh my lord Steven Adams just flattened Pat Beverley pic.twitter.com/cFeQKKiVgA — Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) April 17, 2017 "

Beverley is an outstanding defender, but his true value to the Rockets in this series is annoying Westbrook to no end. Sunday night, Westbrook finished the game with 22 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals, but he also had nine turnovers and was a minus-25 for the contest.

Meanwhile, Beverley scored 21 points, grabbed 10 boards and had three assists and two steals. He basically matched Westbrook. That’s insane, and it clearly has Russ angry.