On Monday, things got a bit chippy between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers. It was Chris Paul's first road game against his former team and it appeared as though emotions were very high as a result. The Clippers won the game 113-102 and improved to 22-21 on the season, putting them at the 7th seed in the Western Conference. With the loss, the Rockets fall to 30-12, putting them now 4.5 games back of the top seeded Golden State Warriors.
Things getting chippy in an NBA game is nothing unusual. It happens all the time. What made this game a bit unusual is the way in which things got chippy. Typically, once the final buzzer sounds and both teams go to their respective locker rooms, the chippiness ends and both teams move on to the next game. In the case of this game, things allegedly spilled over into the locker room, with Rockets small forward Trevor Ariza trying to sneak into the Clippers locker room or something weird like that.
Sources: As details emerge on aftermath Rockets-Clippers game, Trevor Ariza remains described as most aggressive and determined to get into opposing locker room — with Chris Paul and James Harden viewed as trying to slow down Ariza. NBA investigation will continue into Wednesday.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 16, 2018
After the game, both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin tried to downplay what happened and for the most part were respectful towards each other. However, when it came to what happened in the locker room, neither guy admitted fault on his team. They both tried to skirt questions about the matter and not directly describe what happened.
#Rockets PG Chris Paul addresses his return to Los Angeles and their chippy game against the #Clippers... https://t.co/Eh9x2yUquu #NBA— NBA Lord (@nba_lord) January 17, 2018
#Clippers PF Blake Griffin addresses the locker room incident that occurred against the #Rockets on Monday... https://t.co/02QOks3xiU #NBA— NBA Lord (@nba_lord) January 17, 2018
Obviously, if you are the Houston Rockets, the biggest thing you need to worry about is what happens to Trevor Ariza. He's the guy that's been implicated in this bizarre story and if he did indeed do as is being reported, he could be looking at a multi-game suspension. Ariza is having a solid season for the Rockets, averaging 12.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game on 42.4% shooting from the field, 38.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 89.1% shooting from the foul line. Losing him for any stretch of time would hurt.
As far as additional commentary is concerned, the guys on Inside the NBA found the whole thing to be rather humorous. Especially the part about the police being outside the locker rooms. I guess they think today's NBA is much softer than the league they played in.
The guys on Inside The NBA weigh in on the locker room drama between the #Clippers and #Rockets on Monday. Clippers won 113-102 in Chris Paul’s return to Los Angeles... https://t.co/Csf3ny3MfE #NBA— NBA Lord (@nba_lord) January 17, 2018
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