NBA suspends 2 players involved in Rockets-Clippers shenanigans and the Houston Rockets are not happy
- Houston Rockets forwards Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green were suspended two games each for their roles in the fracas that took place between the Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
- No Clippers players were disciplined for the encounter, leading to frustration from the Rockets who believe that Blake Griffin and Austin Rivers were also at fault for escalating the feud.
- Rockets star guards Chris Paul and James Harden also went without punishment, despite their involvement with the locker room encounter.
The NBA has made its ruling on punishments for the almost-skirmish between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers that took place on Monday night after their game, and the Rockets are not happy with the results.
Rockets forwards Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green both took the fall for Houston, each receiving a two-game suspension for their respective roles in the Monday night fracas that saw a crew of four Rockets players confronting the Clippers in their locker room post-game. No players on the Clippers were suspended.
A report from ESPN's Tim MacMahon described the Rockets as "shocked and disappointed" that Blake Griffin and Austin Rivers did not receive any punishment for their part in escalating the situation.
Griffin bumped Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni late in the fourth quarter, leading to the two getting into a heated confrontation that eventually lead to double technicals. Rivers, while sitting out for the entirety of Monday night's game, was talking trash from the bench at Trevor Ariza, which lead to another clash between Ariza and Griffin in the final seconds of the game and technicals for both players.
MacMahon reports that Rivers "continued the profane trash talk after the game, yelling loudly enough in the Clippers' locker room for Ariza to hear him from the hallway," leading to the delegation of Rockets players heading to the Clippers locker room to further the conversation.
Notably, Rockets Chris Paul and James Harden were also both left unpunished for their involvement in the encounter, despite both being a part of the landing party that made it to the Clippers locker room.
It's been a tense first few weeks of the NBA season so far, with fights, pettiness, and calls for the police. Hopefully everyone can keep their wits about them until we make it to the All-Star break.