Rivers, Ariza had lengthy call to clear the air after heated confrontation

The dramatic events of the Jan. 15 matchup between the Clippers and Rockets appear to be water under the bridge for the two players at the core of the situation.

In a 35-minute phone call brokered by former Rocket and current Clipper Montrezl Harrell, Trevor Ariza and Austin Rivers clarified and unpacked their positions from the tense situation - one that briefly threatened to become the biggest NBA dust-up since "The Malice at the Palace."

"First and foremost, me and Trevor have no problems," Rivers told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne on Wednesday "He called me. He reached out to me. Trevor and I talked and hashed everything out. He was really cool about being the bigger guy and calling me."

With Chris Paul making his long-awaited return to Los Angeles after a cantankerous departure from the Clippers last summer, tensions were already high. Everyone from Paul to Blake Griffin, to the injured Rivers and Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni, were seen ratcheting up the animus with colorful language during the contest.

Ariza and Griffin were eventually ejected with barely a minute remaining in the game, ultimately a Clippers win, but attention quickly turned to Rivers - who'd been sitting out with an ankle injury - once reports began to trickle out in real time that Ariza and Gerald Green attempted to confront Rivers and Griffin in the Clippers' locker room after the game.

Apparently, it was just a big misunderstanding.

"Trev called me and was like, 'My bad man. I thought you said something. Obviously the game was emotional,'" Rivers explained. "I was like, 'My bad man, I wasn't trying to antagonize.'"

According to Rivers, the root of the issue stemmed from some misheard trash talk after Ariza had gotten particularly physical with Clippers star Blake Griffin.

"The whole game was filled with cheap shots," Rivers explained. "So I'm not calling anyone out. But he had given Blake a little something and he walked toward our bench. So what do you expect is going to happen? I started talking to him. If I cheap-shotted James Harden, their best player, and I walked down by the Houston bench, you don't think anybody on their bench would've started talking to me?"

After the NBA concluded its multi-day investigation, Ariza and Green were suspended for two games each for their roles in the mayhem. No Clippers players were disciplined by the league, a fact that reportedly upset the Rockets.