Thunder's Westbrook has another testy postgame presser

April 24 (UPI) -- NBA MVP frontrunner Russell Westbrook was in a mood Sunday following the Oklahoma City Thunder's loss to the Houston Rockets at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

For the second time in five days, he unleashed it on reporters at his postgame press conference.

The Game 4 first-round Western Conference playoffs loss puts the Thunder in a 3-1 series hole.

"The Human Triple-Double," scored a 35 points, with 14 rebounds and 14 assists in the loss. The Thunder's bench chipped in 22 points, compared to the 64 points netted by the Rockets' bench.

Late in the third quarter Westbrook took a rest on the bench. He left the Thunder with a 75-68 lead. When he returned, his team trailed 81-79.

Westbrook fired back at a reporter after he asked his teammate Steven Adams about the discrepancy.

"Hold on, Steven," Westbrook told reporters. "I don't want nobody to try and split us up. We're all one team. If I go to the bench and Steven's on the floor and I'm off the floor, we're in this together. Don't split us up. Don't try to split us up. Don't try to make us go against each other or make it Russell and the rest of the guys. Russell against Houston. I don't want to hear that. We're in this together. We play as a team. That's all that matters."

The reporter asked the question again, and Westbrook kept saying: "Next question."

"Say, 'Russell, the team hasn't played well," Westbrook said. "Don't say, "When Russell goes out, the team doesn't play well.' That doesn't matter. We're in this together."

The media relations staff then went to hand the microphone to a different reporter, but the reporter relented, trying to get Adams to answer his question. But Adams stayed silent.

Westbrook was fined $15,000 after the Thunders' Game 2 loss Wednesday to the Rockets. After that game he lashed out after being asked about his stat line.

"I don't give a [expletive] about the line," Westbrook told reporters. "We lost."

On Thursday, Westbrook told reporters: "If you cuss, you get fined."

Westbrook averaged an NBA best 31.6 points this season as well as 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. He also broke Oscar Robertson's record for most triple doubles in a season.

The series resumes at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Toyota Center in Houston. Westbrook is averaging 35 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 11.2 assists per game heading into Game 5.