SAN FRANCISCO – Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, with 13 technical fouls this season after receiving two on Thursday, said he has been unfairly labeled, putting him close to the automatic one-game suspension that comes with 16. But while he said he will be careful, he also said he “won’t back down” in the final 27 games of the season.

“Obviously, you have to be aware of it,” Westbrook said. “I’ll look at it and see which ones were technical fouls and which were not. But I’ll be fine.

“I think it’s a situation where I hold myself to a very, very high standard and I think the refs, fans, media, NBA put me in a position now I’m not allowed to do much.”

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Lead official John Goble gave Westbrook his first technical foul on Thursday with 7:38 left in the first quarter when Westbrook argued that he was fouled on a drive.

“I think he got a tech on a play where he thought he got fouled,” James Harden said. “I thought he got fouled, so he showed his anger just like any player who if they think they got fouled numerous times and it didn’t get called. Everyone knows how he plays with his emotions and he did what he had to do. He has three more to go.”

He received his second technical, assessed again by Goble, with 6:04 left in the game following a video review.

Westbrook had held the ball after an Austin Rivers drive, with the Warriors’ Juan Toscano-Anderson snatching the ball away, which started talking between Westbrook and Warriors players. Westbrook had smacked Damion Lee in the chest while working for position to chase the rebound of Rivers’ drive, prompting the back-and-forth while Westbrook held the ball.

“Things go on throughout the course of the game,” Lee said. “The game’s intense. Games should be. So, I feel like that was just part of the game.”

After a delay of game warning was assessed and the teams were separated, officials checked video and gave Westbrook the technical foul that brings him close to his allotment for the season.

“Obviously, I’m an emotional guy. If you watch the clip, obviously I hit (Lee). It wasn’t on purpose. I was going to the glass. He got hit. He said something to me. I said something to him. I’m standing there. The guy snatched the ball out of my hand. Guys are coming up to me. I didn’t move. But I’m always the one that gets painted to be the bad guy in the whole situation.

“They asked me to walk towards the Warriors bench. So, I’m just over their walking to the bench. One of their young fellas tell me, ‘Why you waIking over here, talking mess with me?’ I turned around and said, “what you say?’ Now, everybody’s running over to me. Then, (Kevon) Looney steps in front of me. I’m in a position, 'Russ is being Russ,’ which nobody knows what that means.”

Westbrook said he was told to walk away from the situation when in the lane with the ball, which had him headed toward the Warriors’ bench. But though he said he has to be more careful, he said being the only one to receive a technical foul was unfair.

“I have to do a better job of holding myself to a very, very high standard,” Westbrook said. “I’ll make sure I leave no room for error to allow somebody to paint me as being a bad guy. I just think it’s unfair that after all that, I’m the only one that gets a tech or gets kicked out. That’s not fair; I don’t care what nobody says. But I’m the one that gets a tech, gets ejected.

“Now, I hold myself responsible. I hold myself to a very high standard. I just got to control myself. But I’m not backing down. No, I’m not. I wasn’t raised that way. I don’t back down from nobody but God. That’s it. I’ll always protect myself in any situation, but I also have to be smart and understand what’s on the line for me, what’s my legacy, who’s watching me, my kids, my family.”

Westbrook said he was unhappy that he drives to the basket so often, and did on Thursday, but did not take any free throws.

“I got to keep going,” Westbrook said. “That’s what it is. I’m going to compete every single night and play my game and find ways to be effective. If they blow the whistle, they do. If they don’t, who cares? I can’t allow it to affect me as a person and who I’m representing and who I am.”