Tensions between Rockets and Clippers nearly spilled into locker room brawl

The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers have had a few contentious battles in the past few years. Even in the aftermath of a trade that sent Chris Paul to Houston, and Lou Williams and a slew of flotsam players to L.A., both teams remain competitive. In a hotly contested matchup, which the Clippers won 113-102 on Monday, things got testy on the floor with Trevor Ariza and Blake Griffin getting ejected in the waning minutes.

However, things may have also gotten physical off the court as well according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Austin Rivers didn’t play, but his smack talk to Ariza on the sideline instigated his late ejection. Reportedly, Chris Paul, who knows the bowels of the Staples Center by heart, also may have led a contingent of Rockets into the Clippers locker room through some sort of backdoor.

Tensions were flying high, however, it appears security was able to step in and prevent the incident from escalating any further.

The NBA has opened an investigation into, well, everything. They want to determine exactly what happened both during and after the game, and the Associated Press reported that the NBA plans to speak with players.

The incident had Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal in stitches (try not to laugh at the report from sideline reporter Rosalyn Gold-Onwude) during TNT’s postgame show, particularly when it was reported that the LAPD was on the scene.

“Hello, police? Chris Paul tried to beat me up!” O’Neal joked.

Naturally, Twitter followed suit:

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DJ Dunson is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at dunsnchecksin@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.

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