Rockets-Thunder Rivalry Heats Up Early in Season as Tempers Flare on the Court

Less than a month has gone by in the 2014-15 NBA season, but it's clear that the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder still don't like each other.

In the fourth quarter of Houston's 69-65 win on Sunday, Rockets guard Patrick Beverley got pretty close to a referee.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks, meanwhile, walked onto the court to get in the face of the same referee.

From there, tempers flared. Players from each team gathered together and exchanged words on the court.

Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard were among those who got chippy with each other.

The Oklahoman's Anthony Slater caught some of the exchange.

B/R

Thunder guard Sebastian Telfair was assessed a technical foul during the sequence, but nobody else received anything.

Of course, this isn't the first time Beverley has been in the middle of things in this rivalry. When the two teams met in the first round of the 2012-13 NBA playoffs, Beverley was at the center of attention when a play he made against Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook injured Westbrook's knee—forcing Westbrook to miss the rest of the playoffs.

Beverley then tried the same play last season.

[YouTube, CBS Sports]