Tension boiled over during Tuesday’s game between the Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets. The meeting was the first between the two teams since their blockbuster trade that sent John Wall to the Rockets and Russell Westbrook to the Wizards.
In the fourth quarter with the game slipping away from the Wizards, Westbrook and Wall exchanged words. The jawing earned the two double-technicals.
Following the Rockets’ 107-88 win, Wall and Westbrook gave two very different reactions to the exchanged.
“Just trash talk… Russ been kicking my a– for years,” Wall said, per Ava Wallace of the Washington Post.
However, Westbrook’s take on the incident wasn’t so kosher.
“They started talking $#!% when they start winning… it’s cool though. We’ll play ’em again,” Westbrook said, according to Wallace.
The Wizards get their rematch on Feb. 15 in Washington. But for now, Wall gets to enjoy extracting revenge against his former team of 10 years.
Wall had team-highs of 24 points and five assists and a plus-11 rating in the Rockets’ win. Meanwhile, Westbrook, who is working back from a quad injury, finished with 19 points and game-highs of 11 rebounds and seven assists with a minus-13 rating.
