VIDEO: Kobe and Dwight scuffle late in Rockets blowout of Lakers
Dwight Howard may be saying the right things publicly about leaving the Los Angeles Lakers for any reason other than Kobe Bryant, but his actions during Tuesday night's season opener spoke volumes.
With the Houston Rockets hammering the Lakers at Staples Center in the fourth quarter, Howard caught Bryant with an elbow to the chops. The two then jawed back and forth, with Howard laughing at Bryant and Bryant very clearly calling his former teammate soft.
Bryant was assessed a Flagrant Foul-Penalty 1 on the play, and each player received a technical foul.
Kobe on Dwight: "He's a teddy bear. You can't help but like him. But when you're competing, you have a goal in mind."
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) October 29, 2014
It was an ugly night for the Lakers overall. The fourth-quarter injury to Julius Randle, who reportedly broke his right leg, hangs over everything, but it was an abjectly terrible game for the Lakers and an awful omen of the trying season to come. The Rockets won 108-90, and the game never felt that close.
The defense was expected to be bad, but they could hardly be bothered to defend Tuesday. James Harden lived at the free-throw line, scoring 31 points on just 17 shots in 31 minutes, and the Rockets scored their 108 points on 94 possessions.
Offensively, things were as bleak as they seemed heading in. The Lakers hit only three threes, surely pleasing head coach Byron Scott, and save for a surge from Carlos Boozer in the second half and a solid outing from Ed Davis, nobody outside of Bryant was really able to score. The team shot 35.4 percent from the floor, though they did manage a robust 39 free-throw attempts (the Rockets somehow had 50).
Bryant was inefficienct but managed 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting in 29 minutes. He also flashed some promising moves throughout, which you can catch up on below. The tiniest of silver linings will do on a night like Tuesday, we suppose.