The Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets will renew their festering rivalry Wednesday night at the Moda Center and that means two things.

James Harden will draw an obscene amount of free throws. And Damian Lillard and Patrick Beverley will inevitably get into some kind of scuffle.

"It seems like we get into it every time we play Houston," Lillard said.

Perhaps no player elicits more emotion out of the usually stoic Lillard than Beverley, the Rockets' ball-hawking point guard who prides himself of being a disruption on defense. Teammates have described him as "obnoxious" and he's boasted about making life "hell" for opposing point guards. What he lacks in size and offensive skill, the 6-foot-1 Beverley makes up for in tenacity and grit.

His style is physical and he thrives on bumping chests, elbowing body parts, slapping arms and hands and diving at legs and feet -- whatever it takes to annoy an opposing point guard. During inbound passes, Lillard says, Beverley will step on Lillard's feet -- out of view of referees -- in an effort to prevent him from working free to collect a pass. Beverley's antics have enraged countless opponents over the years, but he and Lillard seem to have a unique rivalry. Multiple meetings, including one over the weekend, have featured flared tempers and physical dust-ups.

"I think he's just a pest," Lillard said. "And when you're a pest, you've got to embrace not being liked. You've got to embrace irritating people. If somebody steps up, you've got to kind of embrace being that person. And that's who he is for that team."

And what does being a pest look like?

"He's all over you," Lillard said. "He's constantly reaching at the ball. He's trying to scratch and claw for any little advantage he can get, anything he can get away with. He's one of those type of players."

Lillard made it clear that he "respects" Beverley and insisted there's nothing personal between the two. But anyone who has watched them go head-to-head over the years knows there's no love lost when they the step on the court.

The bad blood started during their first matchup, late in the 2012-13 season, when Lillard says "they got off on the wrong foot." Lillard was well on his way to being named the NBA's Rookie of the Year and Beverley was coming off the bench. Lillard said he doesn't remember the specifics, but he and Beverley got in a "dust-up" during a Blazers loss and had to be separated. Since then, there have been shoves, choice words, tackles and technicals.

The season after the first run-in, Lillard and Beverley had another emotional encounter. After Beverley chased down an inbound pass and knocked the ball out of bounds, the Blazers regrouped to line up for another play. But Beverley walked around in a tizzy, waving his right hand in a circle while asking officials to review the play. Beverley bee-lined toward Lillard, waving his right hand, extending his left arm and nudging Lillard's chest as he arrived. The players exchanged words and minor shoves and Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews pulled Lillard away from the incident.

The Rockets and Blazers met in the playoffs later that season and the budding point guard rivalry was a popular pre-series storyline. Lillard had an up-and-down regular season against Beverley and some thought the Rockets might have an advantage in the matchup. Both players publicly took jabs at each other, with Beverley telling a Houston radio station that "Damian Lillard whines." After Beverley's interview made the rounds, Lillard downplayed the matchup, electing to let his play do the talking.

He certainly got the last word.

Lillard owned Beverly in the six-game playoff series, averaging 25.5 points, 6.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds, while shooting 47 percent from the field, including 49 percent from three-point range. His final shot was The Shot, a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer of Game 6 that dealt a death blow to Beverley and the Rockets.

"People tried to make a rivalry of it," Lillard said. "They tried to say he just locked me up (in the regular season) and I didn't score a point and whatever. I was kind of irritated by that. So once we got the matchup in the playoffs, I was like, 'Now we're going to see.' Because there was no more back-to-backs, nobody else on the schedule. It's us against them and he has to see me every night. We went out there and, at the end of the day, I don't have to speak on what happened in that series. The series happened and it speaks for itself."

But that hardly ended the rivalry. On Saturday, during the Blazers' 96-79 dismantling of the Rockets in Houston, there was another skirmish. Midway through the first quarter, as Lillard was preparing to navigate around a Meyers Leonard screen on the perimeter, Beverley poked the ball away toward midcourt. Lillard twisted around and dove for the ball, his momentum taking him over the half court line. The referee called over-and-back.

But as the play unfolded, Beverley dove to the court, too, smacking Lillard in the head and upper body. Beverley lingered on top of Lillard for seconds, his arm draped across his chest and his weight momentarily preventing Lillard from picking himself up off the court. They remained stuck together as they rose and exchanged words. Teammates and officials separated them and Beverley drew a technical foul in the aftermath for shoving Leonard.

It was a rare expression of emotion from Lillard, whose unflappable demeanor has been a trademark since he stepped arrived to the NBA. Rare against everyone but Beverley, that is.

"I've been irritated by plenty of things that happen on the court, but I won't always respond to it," Lillard said. "I felt like, not only because of what's happened between me and him over the past couple of years, but just for my team; I just wanted to light a fire under our team. When I did it, I actually lit a fire under myself and I was ready to go. With it being a short two-game road trip, that being a huge game for us, I just felt like, you know what, it's whatever for us out here."

The Blazers and Rockets not only play again Wednesday night, but also on Feb. 25, meaning Lillard and Beverley will face off three times in 19 days.

Odds are there will be at least one scuffle.

"I don't dislike him," Lillard said. "I don't know him. But he is one of those players that gets on people's nerves. I'll be ready for the challenge. You can't back down. If somebody pushes you, you push back.

"But you've also got be ready to go in there with your mind right and not let him get in your head. When I play against them, you know that he's a guy you have to respect. He's going to come ready to play hard, he's going to do what he has to do to be effective for his team. That means I have to be even more sharp."

--Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman