Throughout the regular season, Dime will take a longer than 280 characters look at a few key notes and stats during some of the league’s most important matchups. First up: the fireworks-filled battle between the Rockets and Lakers.
LOS ANGELES – Kendall Jenner made her way out of the Staples Center still buzzing about what she’d just witnessed. The megastar can afford to see or do just about anything, but this was a first. She shook her head trying to explain what happened, funneling out of the arena with her entourage in tow. The NBA and fans of the Rockets and Lakers would spend the rest of the night and into the morning trying to explain what happened as well, as the early season success of both teams hinges on what the league decides following a scuffle that involved pushes, potential spitters, eye pokes, punches, and even a little family on family altercation.
Here’s what we know: Brandon Ingram will get the lengthiest suspension, as he shoved James Harden unprovoked following a foul call on a Harden drive. There was some intimidation of the ref at play, jawing, and he sprinted back into the fray after Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul started their theatrics, throwing a haymaker at Paul after LeBron James had already wrapped his friend up. The Rockets — and especially Paul — are convinced Rondo spit on CP3, leading to the eye poke and push, and the back-and-forth of punches thrown. The Lakers are backing Rondo’s claim that the spit didn’t happen, or was inadvertent.
“This was some heated stuff,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said after the game. “I’m sure some spit was thrown, and when you cross the line that happens. The NBA will sort it out and they will do a good job of it.”
The bad blood between Rondo and Paul didn’t stop on the court; as following the game Paul was dressed quickly — in gold-framed glasses and a red Winston-Salem State sweatshirt — before the locker rooms even opened up, clearly agitated and frantically searching for NBA reps and Staples Centers staffers. Paul briefly spoke to D’Antoni in front of the locker room hinting that the history between Rondo and himself “ain’t no secret” and that someone “tried to run up on her.” Her — we’d later find out — being Paul’s wife, and that someone as a member of Rondo’s family.
The NBA encourages all sorts of drama, on social media and otherwise, but it’s drawn a relatively hard line in the sand when it comes to on (and off) court violence. Like, subtweet or emoji away, but keep it civil. Once punches are thrown and families are involved, it runs the risk of turning into something more. This early in the season, there’s a chance to set a precedent for these sorts of incidents, so don’t be surprised if the suspensions are a bit longer than anticipated.
In LeBron’s first season in L.A., the lights have never been brighter, but neither has the potential for criticism. James did the right thing in playing peacemaker — even Lance Stephenson went with that role as well, helping to hold back Ingram along with LeBron’s friend Carmelo Anthony — holding back Paul to keep things from escalating further. He advocated for the signing of Rondo, Lance, and JaVale McGee, so he knew antics were always possible, and now he’s potentially out a chance to build chemistry with Rondo and third-year Ingram for a chunk of the early going.
The Lakers aren’t there yet; and they have a long way to go before they can easily beat the upper teams in the west. With what looks to be a crowded playoff battle, how they play with the absence of Rondo and Ingram — for however many games that is — will be critical. James has stressed patience at every turn heading into this year, but that tune always has the possibility of changing if the team sputters off to something like a 3-7 start.
Onto the notes:
Time To Ball: It’s only two games, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to call Rondo the Lakers’ second best (in terms of consistency) player. He has a steady hand, keeps things under control, has made the right plays, and keeps guys involved and active. He’s shot 12-for-21 (2-of-4 from deep), and is averaging 10.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds to go with 1.5 steals. He was doing exactly what James needed him to do — and that’ll be tripped up by his pending suspension.
Enter Lonzo Ball, whose improved shooting stroke paid dividends in the game against the Rockets. Ball hit four of his eight threes, pulled down some monster rebounds and seemed to get more confident as the game wore on. It’s time to accelerate the learning curve for Ball with James and see what the former No. 2 pick can do with that offense. Those shots will be there — and will be open — with how James moves the ball. If Ball can knock them down consistently, he’ll make himself more than useful to the King.
Deep Impact: The Lakers have a three-point problem, and it’s not something Ball alone can solve. Outside of Ball’s 4-of-8 performance from beyond the arc, the rest of the team shot 4-of-24 (16.66 percent). In two games the team has shot under 25 percent on 62 attempts. The Lakers want to play fast, and can get a lot of easy buckets in doing so, but teams will continue to challenge them to hit open looks from deep. If they can’t hit them, this roster might look a lot different in a couple months.
Paint By Numbers: Los Angeles pulled in 68 points in the paint against the Rockets after collecting 72 against the Blazers earlier in the week. Small sample size warning notwithstanding, that puts them at second in the league behind the Pelicans (who also led the league a year ago). The team made this a priority last year as well, and was third in the league, but with LeBron in tow and an emphasis on pace, these opportunities will continue to be there.
Hard To Handle: The reigning MVP put on a show down the stretch. James Harden has a masterful ability to stuff a stat sheet throughout the game and even if it seems like he’s not fully engaged or playing well, you look up and he’s got 30-7-6. When he’s completely locked in, he’s a full-blown killer, and he showed that against the Lakers on Saturday night.
“With all that said and all the commotion going on,” Harden said in the locker room, “that’s our job to go out and win.”
The scuffle came off a drive by Harden and a foul by Ingram with 4:13 to play and the Rockets up 109-108. In the final four-plus minutes, Harden assisted or scored on 11 of the team’s final 15 points, including a dagger three-pointer to put Houston up 120-113 with 1:12 to play, and a layup with :46 to seal it.
Have A Hart: Simply put, Josh Hart needs more minutes. The second-year player looks stronger, more assured, and more polished, and even more importantly, seems to have developed some trust with LeBron already. Hart had a masterful backdoor cut for a layup off a Bron feed, a few strong finishes around the rim, and rebounds well for his position. While his +/- numbers may not show it, he’s outplayed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope by a lot to this point, and will be in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.
Too Melo: Carmelo Anthony will take some time to get adjusted to the Rockets’ style of play, but as long as he’s shooting six or more threes per game, he’s going to be a liability. Those shots make sense coming from Harden, Paul, Eric Gordon, Tucker, or even Gerald Green to some extent, but at this stage in Melo’s career, less is more. If he can keep his attempts to around four per game in the flow of the offense, that percentage (16.66 through two games) will creep up, but as long as he’s forcing those shots, it’s the bad of Houston’s approach only intensified. Some of L.A.’s biggest runs came off struggles by Anthony, and he’s still feeling out his role overall. But Houston likely needs to get better defensively — and find one more rotation player somehow, someway — this season in hopes of keeping pace with the West elite.
