NBA to investigate Rockets-Clippers postgame fight
The NBA is going to investigate a highly-publicized postgame skirmish that broke out between the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets after Monday night’s game, which included reports of players storming into a locker room with an planned out, multi-pronged attack.
The Clippers beat the Rockets 113-102 in what was a revenge game for Houston’s Chris Paul, who returned to face his former team for the first time. The game started getting out of hand towards the end, with Blake Griffin and Mike D’Antoni getting double technicals for a serious yelling match with under four minutes to go. D’Antoni says the incident began with Griffin hitting him.
A few minutes later, Griffin and Houston’s Trevor Ariza were ejected.
Blake Griffin gets ejected after getting into it with Trevor Ariza pic.twitter.com/jehnkpEqoa
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) January 16, 2018
Keep in mind that Ariza got heated over some trash talk from Austin Rivers, who wasn’t playing.
Austin Rivers bout that life talking trash to Trevor Ariza pic.twitter.com/s6o2dKtDWG
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) January 16, 2018
The game finally ended, but that’s when the real fun started.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that some Rockets players pushed into the Clippers’ locker room after the game, and they were looking for Rivers and Griffin:
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
Rockets players were clamoring for Blake Griffin too, league sources said. Chris Paul also entered with other Rockers players through a backstory that connects team dressing rooms. https://t.co/BRgyHe1WgL
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 16, 2018
But wait … it gets better. Woj reported that the Rockets sent Clint Capela to the front door of the Clippers’ locker room as a diversion so they could try to sneak through a back tunnel.
Sources: As the four Rockets marched through the back hallway into the Clippers locker room, center Clint Capela knocked on the front door of Clippers entrance. Someone opened door, saw him standing there — and shut it on him.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 16, 2018
Nothing actually happened — it was all a bunch of yelling and such before things were broken up — but the drama here is fantastic. There were even reports that LAPD officers got involved to break things up.
Expect the NBA to hand out some discipline in what has turned out to be one of the wildest stories of the season, though it’s one that’s more common than you think.