LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers teammates Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo, and Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets were suspended without pay Sunday for an on-court fight.

Ingram was suspended four games, Rondo will sit out three and Paul two. The NBA handed down the punishments a day after the incident in the fourth quarter in Los Angeles.

The incident is costliest to Paul, who will be fined $491,782. Paul is president of the NBA Players’ Association. He began serving the suspension Sunday night when the Clippers played the Rockets. Rondo will be fined a total of $186,207. Ingram’s total is $158,816.

Houston Coach Mike D’Antoni disagreed with the severity of Paul’s penalty.

“It’s just not equitable,” he said. “If you wanted to suspend him one (game) I get it, just to make a statement. Then you’re talking monetarily, he’s paying three times more than the other guys are paying for missing games? That doesn’t seem to be right.”

Ingram and Rondo will start their suspensions Monday night when the Lakers meet San Antonio.

Advertisement

The league said Ingram was suspended for aggressively escalating the altercation and throwing a punch in the direction of Paul, confronting referee Jason Phillips in a hostile manner and instigating the overall incident by shoving Rockets guard James Harden.

Rondo was suspended for instigating a physical altercation with Paul, and spitting and throwing multiple punches at him. Paul was suspended for poking at and making contact with Rondo’s face, and throwing multiple punches at him.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

HAWKS 133, CAVALIERS 111: Trae Young had 35 points with 11 assists – the best line for an NBA rookie since Steph Curry in 2010 – and Kent Bazemore scored 23 as Atlanta rolled over Cleveland, which lost its home opener and fell to 0-3 in its first season without LeBron James.

KINGS 131, THUNDER 120: Iman Shumpert scored 26 points and Sacramento won at Oklahoma City to spoil Russell Westbrook’s season debut.

NUGGETS 100, WARRIORS 98: Gary Harris scored 28 points, Juancho Hernangomez blocked a tying layup just before the buzzer and host Denver beat the Golden State.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.