Thunder's Russell Westbrook throws ball at Hawks' bench, gets in heated exchange with Vince Carter

Tensions were running high when a heated exchange broke out between Thunder guard Russell Westbrook and Hawks guard Vince Carter during the third quarter of Friday's game.

Westbrook was dribbling against Hawks defender DeAndre' Bembry when the ball went out of bounds. The Thunder All-Star appeared to exchange some words with Hawks players on the bench.

Then, the Hawks' John Collins tossed Westbrook the ball from the bench. But Westbrook wasn't having it as he immediately threw it back at the bench, sparking Carter to stand up and defend his teammates.

Russ and Vince both get T'd up and jaw at each other. Next play: Russ hits a jumper right in front of the Hawks bench, points at them and rocks the baby ? pic.twitter.com/Cyy2002m2F

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 1, 2018

Both players received technical fouls for their roles in the altercation, though Carter, a 21-year veteran, didn't even play in the game.

Westbrook finished with 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds as he came up just short of his third straight triple-double.

The Thunder went on to win the game 124-109. They improved to a 14-7 record, while the Hawks fell to 5-18.