2014 Timeout Swipe and Technical

On March 11, 2014, the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Houston Rockets in their first meeting since the 2013 playoff collision that preceded Russell Westbrook’s meniscus surgery. With 6:10 remaining in the first quarter, after the Thunder had taken a timeout, Rockets guard Patrick Beverley swiped at the ball as Westbrook had it near the sideline [2]. The Associated Press recap on ESPN documented the flashpoint: “Beverley swiped the ball away from Westbrook after a timeout with 6:10 left in the first quarter. Beverley and Westbrook had to be separated, and Beverley [was] issued a technical foul” [2]. The timing—immediately following a timeout whistle—unmistakably recalled the April 24, 2013 incident in which Beverley lunged for a steal as Westbrook stopped to call timeout and collided with his right knee [3]. Emotions from that original clash were still fresh, particularly in Oklahoma City, where Westbrook’s 2013 surgery had ended his postseason two days after the collision [4]. In this 2014 regular-season contest, officials intervened quickly. Players converged, and after separation, Beverley received a technical for the after-timeout swipe [2]. While the 2014 game recap centers on the first-quarter incident and discipline, the broader context was a charged rivalry now defined by boundary-testing plays at procedural moments. The episode reinforced that the pair’s interactions were closely watched by referees and media alike and that even minor contacts at dead-ball moments could escalate swiftly [2].

This was the first on-court sequel to the 2013 collision. By occurring at another timeout juncture, Beverley’s swipe underscored the unresolved tension around dead-ball etiquette and the perceived risks to Westbrook’s knee [2][3]. The technical foul formalized league disapproval of that specific type of boundary-pushing in their matchup and foreshadowed later officiating scrutiny, including a flagrant assessed to Beverley in 2018 for a similar low, aggressive contest near Westbrook’s legs [5]. It proved the feud wasn’t isolated to the playoff collision—it had become an ongoing dynamic that referees were prepared to police [2][5].

The immediate consequence was a technical foul on Beverley and a preventative reset of tempers on the floor [2]. As the season and rivalry progressed, the pattern reappeared more starkly on October 30, 2018, when Beverley dove toward Westbrook’s legs during a loose-ball chase, was assessed a flagrant-1, and both players received double-technicals as police stepped onto the court to help maintain separation [5]. The 2014 timeout swipe serves as connective tissue between the 2013 playoff collision and the 2018 escalation, illustrating how specific situational behaviors—after-timeout pressure, low-angle challenges—kept the feud active and under league scrutiny [2][5].