Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook Fined for Actions in Game 4 vs. Mavericks

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks with a 119-108 victory Saturday, but superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook did not escape without punishment.

According to Matt Moore of CBSSports.com, the NBA fined Durant $15,000 because of his flagrant foul on Justin Anderson, while it assessed Westbrook a $25,000 fine because of “inappropriate language” directed toward a fan in American Airlines Center.

Brian Demaris provided video of Westbrook's incident on Twitter (Warning: NSFW due to inappropriate language):

"

Here is the video (uncensored) of Russell Westbrook telling Mavs fan and his wife to "f*** off" pic.twitter.com/HsY9JPsin3

— Brian Dameris (@bdameris) April 25, 2016"

Durant was ejected from the game after taking a swipe at Anderson’s head as Anderson went up for a shot and discussed the incident and heated series as a whole, per ESPN.com: “I don't believe they're trying to hurt us, and we're not trying to hurt them. We're going to do some talking. We're going to do some shoving here and there because that's how competitive both teams are.”

It was part of a testy Game 4 between the Western Conference foes. ESPN.com described another “flare-up” that involved Dallas guard J.J. Barea confronting Anthony Morrow. Morrow shoved Barea, and Westbrook and Salah Mejri were screaming at each other before officials broke things up.

Westbrook and Mejri were both assessed technical fouls, and the Thunder point guard also appeared to swear at the Dallas crowd after Mejri fouled him later in the contest, which is what warranted the fine.

Thunder forward Serge Ibaka also received a technical foul for throwing an elbow near the end of the game.

That Durant was fined for his play is interesting because ESPN.com noted Mavericks “coach Rick Carlisle called out Durant while complaining during the off day over what he essentially said were dirty plays by the Thunder in Game 3.”

Durant and Westbrook certainly won’t enjoy being fined, but at least the Thunder avoided any suspensions for their two key cogs. They have a two-game advantage in the series and appear to be well on their way to victory, but the faster they can dispel the Mavericks, the faster they can rest for their impending second-round showdown with the San Antonio Spurs.

That potential clash with San Antonio figures to be a heated series after the Thunder and Spurs split their four regular-season matchups. San Antonio is already in rest mode after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, so the Thunder would be well-suited to quickly wrap up their series as well.

As for Game 4, Durant was relatively quiet by his elevated standards before he was ejected with 19 points, four assists and four rebounds. Westbrook was brilliant with 25 points, 15 assists, five rebounds and two steals.

The Thunder outscored Dallas, 33-18, in the first quarter and generally cruised the rest of the way.