James’ home debut turns into fight night
Los Angeles, Oct. 21: LeBron James’s home debut with the Los Angeles Lakers ended on a sour note Saturday as the Houston Rockets seized control late for a 124- 115 win in a physical contest at Staples Center.
James finished with 24 points and five assists but the Lakers couldn’t stop the Rockets’ dynamic duo of James Harden and Chris Paul, who combined for 64 points at Staples Center arena.
Harden finished with 36 points and Paul delivered 28 and 10 assists before he was ejected in the fourth quarter for fighting.
The four- time NBA most valuable player James signed with the Lakers three months ago after leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to four straight NBA final appearances, including their first championship in 2016.
Saturday’s loss left James still searching for his first win as a Laker. In his season- opening game on Thursday in Portland, James scored 26 points in a 128- 119 loss to the Trail Blazers. “We will watch film tomorrow. It is one of our best teachers, being able to see some of the things we did wrong,” he said.
‘ VERY HEATED’
It was a more reserved start than the one he had on Thursday when he delivered back- to- back, rim- rattling dunks for his first two baskets to open his Lakers’ era.
On Saturday, he electrified the Staples Center crowd for the first time with a monster two- handed slam to tie the contest 14- 14 halfway through the first quarter.
Paul was ejected along with Lakers Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram after they were involved in a wild melee that saw punches thrown on both sides.
“I saw it from a distance. It was very heated stuff,” said Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni. Paul and Rondo were the main combatants trading blows after Paul stuck his finger in Rondo’s face and pushed him hard.
Rondo answered with a roundhouse left that would have made boxing champion Floyd Mayweather proud — the fighter was sitting courtside obviously enjoying the fireworks.
Paul then missed with a right but connected with a hard left of his own.
Ingram was given two technicals, one for starting the fiasco by pushing Harden in the back and the other for a sucker punch from behind on an unsuspecting Rockets player as he charged back into the kerfuffle for round two.
Elsewhere, Kyle Lowry took the reins from Kawhi Leonard, scoring 28 points and 12 assists as the Toronto Raptors improved to 3- 0 with a 117- 113 NBA win over the Washington Wizards.
With Leonard taking the night off, Lowry carried the offensive load for the Raptors, who also got 16 points from Jonas Valanciunas and never trailed by more than five points at the Capital One Arena.