The NBA on Sunday suspended striker Brandon Ingram of the Los Angeles Lakers, protagonist Rajon Rondo of the Three-Guardians and defenseman Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets two games without pay for their roles in an altercation on the field that has gave rise to strikes with the knowledge of the suspensions said USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because she was not allowed to speak before the official announcement of the league.

The suspensions begin immediately and Paul will miss Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers will face San Antonio on Monday.

When announcing the suspensions, Ingram was suspended for "aggressively returning to the altercation and escalating her altercation and punching Paul's direction."

The league also confirmed that Rondo had spat in Paul's face and was suspended for "inciting a physical altercation with, spitting and throwing multiple punches on Paul".

Paul was suspended for "poking at Rondo's face, contacting him and throwing him several punches".

In a match that was getting more and more shaken from minute to minute, the frustration got worse after Ingram made a mistake on Harden. After the whistle, Ingram pushed Harden and Ingram received a technical foul from veteran referee Jason Phillips.

Ingram took the lead of Phillips – a no-no, since the league has focused on its rules of "respect for the game".

Lance Stephenson, of Los Angeles, rejected Ingram. It was then that Paul and Rondo chewed. What has been said and what has happened is not clear – did Rondo spit on Paul? – but Paul put his finger on the face of Rondo and he responded with punches. Paul also threw a punch, and Ingram joined the crash and threw a punch.

The incident occurred late in the fourth quarter at Staples Center during a stoppage in play. The three players were excluded from the match as the Rockets won 124 to 115, thus spoiling LeBron James' home debut.

In recent years, the league has suspended players from one or two games for throwing a punch, but the nature of Saturday's incident could exceed the standard suspension level.

In 2006, several players from Denver and New York were suspended for a long time: Carmelo Anthony (15 games) of Denver, Nate Robinson and JR Smith of New York (10 games), Mardy Collins (six games) of New York and Jared Jeffries from New York. (four games).

Paul and some Rockets members claimed that Rondo had spit on Paul, which caused the altercation.

"It's unacceptable," said Anthony, now on the Rockets. "You do not do that, you do not do that to anyone, in sports, in the streets, it's a blatant disrespect there."

James, a close friend of Paul, took the Rockets star out of the fight, and after the match, he said he "saw nothing."

The Lakers fell to 0-2 on the season with defeat and have a tough schedule ahead, with San Antonio (twice), Denver and Minnesota counting for four of their next five games. The Rockets, meanwhile, are now 1-1 and play against the Clippers on Sunday night, against Utah Wednesday and Clippers Friday.