One thing leads to another
LOS ANGELES — There were taunts and shouts along the way, but that is not unusual in an NBA game. There was a brief, easily forgotten first-half altercation between Trevor Ariza and Blake Griffin when they were tied up. Ariza took offense, and Griffin looked to be interested in smoothing things over.
There was a confrontation between Chris Paul and Griffin, with Griffin thinking he was fouled and complaining to the official, while Paul saved the ball and shot back an insult.
But if the entire Rockets game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night devolved into collecting a wading pool’s worth of lighter fluid, the match came in the final minutes.
The fire, once lit, raged all the way from the spotlight that followed Paul and Griffin’s every move to the backstage hallway that connected the locker rooms of the Clippers and Rockets.
The final act played out in a succession of escalating events: 1 With 3:32 left and the Clippers leading 10698, Eric Gordon drove to the rim, only to have the Clippers’ Wesley Johnson swat the ball against the backboard with two hands. The Rockets screamed for goaltending, with replays showing the ball did hit the backboard before Johnson reached it.
2 Griffin grabbed the rebound, passed to Lou Williams and rushed up the floor. Mike D’Antoni angrily complained about not getting the goaltending call as Griffin ran the floor pointing and shouting at D’Antoni, brushing into the Rockets coach, who was out of bounds.
3 Moments later, Griffin was isolated on the low blocks against Paul. Paul fouled Griffin, but when it was called a shooting foul, Paul and Luc Mbah a Moute immediately complained, with Paul rushing toward official Michael Smith.
4 While players gathered, D’Antoni shouted at Griffin, and Griffin shouted back. 5 Hearing this, Paul confronted his former teammate as Ariza and Williams got between him and Griffin.
6 With 1:13 remaining, Griffin made a spin move past Ariza, with Ariza grabbing Griffin’s shorts, tearing them and the compression tights underneath.
7 With 1:12 left, Gordon fouled Griffin on an inbounds pass. Griffin, while falling out of bounds, delivered a fastball hard into Gordon’s back, though Smith had already called a foul on Gordon.
8 Finally, with 1:03 remaining, Ariza and Austin Rivers, who was out with an injury, traded shouts back and forth. Griffin confronted Ariza, who answered Griffin. Both were given technical fouls and ejections, though the Rockets later sought to finish business in the locker room.