NBA suspends three in Lakers-Rockets fight
The NBA on Sunday suspended the Lakers’ Brandon Ingram (four games) and Rajon Rondo (three) and the Rockets’ Chris Paul (two) for their roles in a fight during the fourth quarter Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Ingram sparked the incident by shoving James Harden. Rondo then got into it with Paul, allegedly spitting on him before Paul poked him in the face prompting punches to be thrown. Ingram circled back into the fray to throw a punch at Paul. All three were ejected.
“What is [Paul] supposed to do? Just stand there and get spit on and then take a punch in the face and say, ‘Well, that’s OK,’ ” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.
The Rockets won 124-115, spoiling the Lakers’ home debut of LeBron James.
◆ Russell Westbrook had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes in his first game of the season, but the Thunder lost 131-120 to the visiting Kings.
◆ Knicks rookie Kevin Knox will miss at least one week with a left ankle sprain.
Fire fall to hot Atlanta
Michael de Leeuw scored in the 24th minute, but the visiting Fire lost 2-1 to Atlanta United in front of 71,812 fans at MercedesBenz Stadium. United improved to 21-6-6 for 69 points, tying the MLS points record set last season by Toronto FC with one game to play.
Patrick McLain made four saves for the Fire (8-18-7).
Wolves lose in shootout
Brandon Pirri had the only goal in a shootout as the Wolves lost 5-4 to the Milwaukee Admirals at Allstate Arena. The Admirals had two shootout goals in seven attempts against Wolves goalie Oscar Dansk. Brooks Macek scored two goals and Nic Hague and Daniel Carr had one each in regulation for the Wolves (4-1-0-1).
◆ Brooks Koepka shot a finalround 8-under 64 for a 21-under total of 267, good for a four-stroke victory over Gary Woodland at the CJ Cup in South Korea. With the win, Koepka supplanted Dustin Johnson as the No. 1 golfer in the world. Koepka is the third player this year to reach No. 1 for the first time, joining Justin Rose and Justin Thomas. The last time that happened was in 1997, when Ernie Els, Tom Lehman and Tiger Woods each rose to No. 1.
◆ Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup race at Kansas Speedway for his second victory in three races. Elliott advanced to the third round of the playoffs, along with Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Joey Logano. Those who didn’t advance were Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman.