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OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook is getting another chance.
Westbrook was fined $10K and assessed a postgame technical foul, but was not suspended for his role in an altercation with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert in the fourth quarter of Monday night's Game 4 113-96 Jazz win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA announced Tuesday evening.
Here's a video of the incident:
So I went back and checked the OKC feed of the Westbrook-Gobert incident and it's still unclear whether he was checked in or not....Looks like Westbrook made the ref aware that he was coming in and the ref waved him in but ref was still checking out the situation on the court. pic.twitter.com/DRh2eDN8P2 — gifdsports (@gifdsports) April 24, 2018
The NBA ruled that Westbrook's role in the altercation started after he legally came on the court as a substitute after a stoppage in play due to a foul. Therefore, he avoided the automatic suspension that is triggered when a player steps on to the court from the sidelines during an altercation.
Westbrook told Oklahoma City reporters on Tuesday that he had heard the horn to check in, which is why he stepped onto the court, though it's unclear if the video corroborates his story.
Westbrook has averaged 21.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game in four games so far against Utah in the playoffs. His efficiency, though, has disappointed: Westbrook is shooting just 36 percent from the field and 21 percent from three in the series, and the Jazz have outscored the Thunder by 45 points with Westbrook on the court. 
