Russell Westbrook involved in Thunder, Blazers melee

March 26 (UPI) -- Technical fouls were handed out like Halloween candy after a scuffle during the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder game.

The melee occurred late in the third quarter of the Blazers' 108-105 victory Sunday at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

Portland swingman Ed Davis went up for a rebound with 3:20 remaining in the frame, but failed to bring it down. Thunder guard Terrance Ferguson boxed Davis out on the play, but his body weight came down on his opponent. Ferguson took exception to Davis backing away and shoving him to the floor on the play.

Ferguson got up and shoved Davis, before Thunder star Russell Westbrook intervened between the two players. Westberook then shoved Davis away with his right hand, before Blazers guard Evan Turner came in and blindsided Ferguson with another shove.

Westbrook and Ferguson then got in Turner's face for some more shoves, while coaches and team security intervened.

The skirmish resulted in four technical fouls. Davis, Ferguson, Westbrook and Turner were all whistled for their actions during the scuffle.

"Things got out of control quickly, that was it," Turner told reporters after the game. "Something little turned into something big. [Expletive], I was the closest one there I had to do something."

"I'm a huge fan of combat sports and if there's anybody else on this team that's equally as much a fan of it, it's E.T. He's a big fan of it and he's a participant," Blazers star Damian Lillard told reporters. "He's a guy that's in the ring training in all forms of combat. And I do the same thing, so I think E.T. is a guy that's not going to go out there looking a confrontation, but if it comes his way, he'll stand his ground just like that."

Turner said he entered the altercation after he saw his teammate "surrounded."

C.J. McCullum scored a game-high 34 points for the Blazers. Westbrook led the Thunder with 23 points. The reigning NBA MVP also had nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals.

"They have great fan support out here," McCollum said in his postgame interview. "And every time we play here it's competitive. The fans get into it and they try to ride the wave. But tonight, we understood that we had to play with a sense of urgency. We didn't want to drop three straight and I think we took advantage of a good division win."

The Blazers swept the Thunder this season and have won six consecutive games against their Western Conference foe.

"It's all in the game. T-Ferg is our little brother," Raymond Felton told reporters after the game. "He's 19-years-old so we're not going to see anybody push him like that."

"...To see somebody push him like that, I didn't like that at all. But we're all in this together. We are like brothers so if I see one of our guys in a dog fight, I'm definitely one of the guys who are going to get into it, but I wasn't on the court. Stuff like that can change the game for the best, can change the game for the worst. In that situation it didn't change the game at all."