Watch: Russell Westbrook engages in heated verbal altercation with courtside heckler frustrated with his performance

Russell Westbrook of the LA Clippers got into a heated altercation with a fan inside the Crypto.com Arena on Monday night. Frustrations boiled over after Westbrook and the Clippers lost to the short-handed Denver Nuggets who were without three key players, including Nikola Jokic.

Westbrook was caught talking to a heckler at the end of the game. He was clearly frustrated with the result of the game, and the fan must have also been unhappy with what he saw from the Clippers.

Players from both teams, like Justin Holiday, Daniel Theis and DeAndre Jordan tried to calm down the former NBA MVP. A referee also did her best to restrain Westbrook, with several arena officials trying to identify the heckler in the crowd.

Here's the video of the verbal altercation:

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Fortuntely, for the LA Clippers, the situation didn't turn uglier than their performance on Monday night. The Clippers had all four superstars – Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook and James Harden – for the entire game.

That didn't stop the defending champions from getting a 113-104 win even without Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray. Jokic and Gordon were given some rest, while Murray is recovering rom a hamstring issue.

Westbrook gave a brief explanation of what happened after the game. He was not happy with what the fan said and knew that he had the right to respond:

"I'm just protecting myself, and that's about it," Westbrook said. "It's just unfortunate that fans think that they can say anything. ... I won't stand for it."

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Russell Westbrook did not have a terrible game against Denver

While it appeared that the fan was blaming Russell Westbrook for what was happening to the LA Clippers, the nine-time All-Star played well off the bench. Westbrook had 14 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes. He also went 5-for-9 from the field and 4-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Kawhi Leonard had 31 points but was only 10-for-26 from the field. Paul George was cold all game, ending with six points on 2-for-13 shooting. James Harden was not aggressive enough, taking just seven shots in 36 minutes.

A couple of former Clippers playeers were the heroes for the Denver Nuggets. Reggie Jackson had a game-high 35 points with 13 assists, while DeAndre Jordan turned back the clock with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Also Read: "You want me to bench me?" - Klay Thompson issues fiery response to reporter on about Warriors starters' struggles