Reggie Jackson leaves Oklahoma City Thunder fuming

Jay Asser 03:08 31/03/2016
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  • Is he for real? Russell Westbrook looks on as Jackson celebrates.

    Reggie Jackson’s exuberant celebration seconds before defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 88-82 have rubbed former team-mate Russell Westbrook the wrong way.

    Detroit Pistons point guard Jackson finished with 14 points, but scored eight of his team’s final 11 points in Tuesday’s reunion with the Thunder.

    After Aron Baynes was fouled grabbing a rebound off Westbrook’s offline desperation 3-pointer in the final seconds, Jackson hopped down the court during the dead-ball and gestured to the crowd to make noise.

    “Yeah, I did actually,” Westbrook said when asked if he took exception to Jackson’s celebration.

    “Honestly, I think that was some real bulls***. I don’t appreciate it for our team and our organisation. 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.”

    While Baynes took his free throws, Jackson exchanged words with OKC centre Steven Adams, who also had an issue with the former Thunder sixth man.

    “Just surprised, really,” Adams said. “Says a lot about him.

    “Keep it up here, though,” Adams added, pointing to his head, “for next time.”

    The 25-year-old has bad blood with his old team-mates and left OKC after requesting a trade at the deadline last season due to unhappiness over his role.

    When the Pistons and Thunder met for the first time earlier this season, Westbrook said “who?” when asked about Jackson.

    After the most recent loss to Detroit, Westbrook was just as frosty when asked of Jackson’s exit from the team, saying: “It doesn’t matter, man. Honestly, he wasn’t changing nothing for us. 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. So, he is going to stay over here in Detroit, we’re going to stay over here, and we’ll see him next season.”

    Jackson, however, has helped put the Pistons in position to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2009, with Detroit occupying the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference – 2.5 games ahead of Chicago in ninth and 3.5 ahead of Washington in 10th.

    Jackson leads Detroit in scoring with a career-high 18.5 points per game, while averaging 5.2 assists and 35.2 per cent shooting on 3-pointers.

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