Brandon Ingram pushes James Harden; Rajon Rondo gets into a fight with Chris Paul

In one way or another, the events that led to this fight began with the misguided bozo Lance Stephenson as one of the players trying to keep the peace. While Houston's 124-115 win was still at a point on Saturday night, Lakers forward Brandon Ingram pushed Rockets goaltender James Harden into the back after a foul. While Stephenson and the other players defused this confrontation, opposing guards Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul faced each other, then threw their hands. Spit could have been involved.

Here is an excerpt from the ESPN broadcast, as well as some reruns from different angles. Oh, there are so many angles to dissect. Try to find Travis Scott too excited when the players start to swing.

Another point of view, offered by Spectrum SportsNet, provides the best uninterrupted images of the Rondo-Paul fight. After Stephenson takes Ingram, Rondo approaches Paul, who is talking to a manager. The guard of the Rockets directs his attention to his counterpart. At 0:26, Paul crossed his arms but uncrossed quickly, because Rondo did something to make him shit to the point that Paul sticks his fingers in the eyes. Rondo strikes him with a punch and follows with a few other blows; an official tries briefly to master the Lakers goalkeeper before realizing that much stronger people on the ground can do it. Ingram returns from her lonely area to hit Paul when he does not look.

After the match, Paul and the Rockets were convinced that Rondo had incited the fight to spit and spit in Paul's face, which would have happened just after Paul folded his arms in this video. There was no pin visible in the clips, but Paul wiped his face just before poking Rondo in the eyes. Rachel Nichols told the story of Team Spit:

By Jonathan Feigen from Houston ChronicleCarmelo Anthony – who was right next to Paul – and head coach Mike D'Antoni confirmed the spindle, although it did not follow the fight to its very end.

But Adrian Wojnarowski has reported a refutation from the No Spit team and pointed out that Paul and Rondo hated each other for years:

Even the families of Paul and Rondo were in trouble:

Paul and Rondo were ejected; Ingram was seen to inflict two technical fouls and was disqualified. NBA Executive Vice President Kiki VanDeWeghe, who determines the league's punishments, was already in the game. At least one suspension is expected for Ingram.