Chippy Rockets-Clippers game ends in near locker room fight
By Nick Tylwalk
The tense conclusion to the Rockets-Clippers tilt in L.A. didn’t end with the bad blood getting left on the floor.
There have been any number of NBA games over the decades that have led to tempers flaring and scuffles or even all-out fights on the floor. Not many have carried over after the game the way the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers reportedly continued their grievances on Monday night at the Staples Center.
The Rockets were apparently still unhappy with themselves and the hosts after the final buzzer in a 113-102 Clippers victory that marked Chris Paul’s return to L.A. and the Clips’ fifth straight win. But even after a physical game led to technical fouls and ejections in the final four minutes, it’s what happened after the teams went back to their locker rooms that will likely be the main talking points.
Initial reports were that the teams were brawling back in the locker room and that security had to be summoned:
Ace ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski provided more details on what started the melee, as he does.
Houston Rockets’ players James Harden, Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green pushed into Clippers locker room post-game looking to confront Austin Rivers, league sources tell ESPN. Security escorted Rockets out before anything turned physical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 16, 2018
Interestingly, other reports had James Harden playing peacemaker, or at least attempting to do so, with his teammate Paul before they went looking for the Clippers. A tweet from a local reporter suggested that Harden and Paul may have gotten into it with each other, but it was later deleted.
The initial beef between the two teams began when Paul fouled Blake Griffin and complained about it to the refs (as he is wont to do) while coach Mike D’Antoni appeared to curse out Griffin, according to ESPN. Griffin also appeared to go out of his way to bump into D’Antoni on his way up the court.
Here's the play where Blake Griffin went right at D'Antoni on the way up the court, going out of bounds to bump him. D'Antoni complains about it immediately. pic.twitter.com/dwZeRJlxmv
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) January 16, 2018
Griffin and the Rockets’ Trevor Ariza ended up getting tossed with just over a minute to go.
Next: Chris Paul's night started out a little better in his return to L.A.
Even though it sounds like no punches ended up getting thrown, you can bet whatever issues the two teams have are only going to fester until their next meeting. That comes on Feb. 28, once again in L.A., and security might want to figure out how to get in-between the home and visiting locker rooms ahead of time just in case.