Needing to essentially win every game to ensure their postseason berth, the Detroit Pistons' victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday caused Reggie Jackson to celebrate and play it up for the home crowd.
The win and a loss by the Pacers meant Detroit is now in the seventh seed and after making some key plays down the stretch, including hitting some clutch free throws, Jackson skipped around the court in the closing seconds of the game, asking Pistons fans to make some noise.
Jackson's celebration annoyed his former teammates Steven Adams and Russell Westbrook. Adams talked to Jackson immediately after his celebration ended and Westbrook expressed his animosity for the Pistons guard after the game to reporters.
From The Oklahoman's Anthony Slater:
“Yeah I did,” Westbrook said. “I thought it was some real b------- for our team and our organization. I don't like it at all. But it is what it is. We'll see him down the line. We'll take care of that when we get there.”
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“He wasn't changing nothing for us,” Westbrook said. “Obviously he didn't want to be here. He's at a better spot. He's not doing too much of a difference if you ask me. He's gonna stay over in Detroit. We gonna stay over here and we'll see them next season.”
Jackson started his career with the Thunder backing up Westbrook but after repeatedly expressing his desire to be a starting guard, Oklahoma City traded him to the Pistons last season, where he has blossomed into one of the Detroit's main stars. Westbrook didn't like how Jackson demanded a trade, feeling like the Pistons guard didn't have a team-first type of mentality on Thunder. This created a gulf between Jackson and Westbrook, which grew even larger on Tuesday.
Jackson's celebration wasn't anything over the top though and he was well within his right to do it. The Pistons did win a close game after all. But it sounds like when the Thunder play the Pistons next season, Westbrook won't have forgotten about Jackson's celebration and is looking foward to enact some small level of revenge on the court to his former teammate.
