LOS ANGELES (AP) – James Harden scored 32 points, Dwight Howard added 13 points and 11 rebounds before getting into a shouting match with Kobe Bryant, and the Houston Rockets spoiled Bryant’s return to the Lakers with a 108-90 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Bryant’s comeback game got even worse when Lakers rookie forward Julius Randle broke his right leg in the fourth quarter. The seventh overall pick out of Kentucky collided with two Rockets under the basket and landed awkwardly, eventually leaving his NBA debut on a wheeled stretcher.
“The last three or four minutes, obviously we weren’t thinking a whole lot about basketball,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said after his somber debut. “We were just thinking about Julius, and hoping he’s OK.”
Bryant scored 19 points in his first game back at Staples Center after missing most of the Lakers’ worst season in a half-century with two major injuries.
Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones scored 16 points apiece for Houston.
Harden hit three 3-pointers and 15 free throws as Houston cruised to a comfortable win. Ariza hit five 3-pointers for the Rockets, who took an 18-point lead in the first half of both clubs’ season opener.
Randle’s injury cast a pall over the night for the Lakers, who are banking on the 19-year-old power forward to become a solid player. His right leg was immobilized before his teammates lifted him onto the stretcher, obvious pain on his face.
A few moments before Randle’s injury, Howard and Bryant received matching technical fouls when Howard elbowed Bryant in the face after grabbing a rebound in the fourth quarter, setting off a lengthy stretch of shouting and finger-pointing between the former teammates.
Although teammates stepped between them, Bryant appeared to yell “Try me!” at Howard, who appeared to respond with “Scoreboard!”
Howard got a flagrant foul for the elbow, and Bryant got a personal foul in addition to their technicals. Both veterans were pulled from the blowout immediately afterward.
Bryant extended his franchise record just by stepping on the court for his 19th season with the Lakers, tying Utah’s John Stockton for the most seasons with one team in NBA history. That 19th season is likely to be rocky, although he relishes the chance to play for Scott, the longtime Lakers shooting guard and Inglewood, California, native who got his self-described dream job this summer.
Bryant played just six games last season due to two major injuries, and the Lakers won just 27 games in their worst performance since moving to Los Angeles.
Jeremy Lin scored seven points against his former teammates in his Lakers debut, struggling to score against Patrick Beverley. Lin is the Lakers’ starting point guard after Steve Nash’s latest season-ending injury.
Carlos Boozer added 17 points in his Lakers debut.
TIP-INS
Rockets: Rookie Tarik Black scored two points and Kostas Papanikolaou had four in their NBA debuts. Black made the roster as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas. Papanikolaou spent last season with FC Barcelona. … Jason Terry scored eight points off the bench in his Houston debut.
Lakers: Randle scored two points and second-round pick Jordan Clarkson had eight in their NBA debuts for the Lakers. … Xavier Henry and Ronnie Price both played despite injuries. Henry missed the entire preseason. … Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Will Ferrell, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Yasiel Puig, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Gerard Butler, Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo attended the game.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Lakers left shortly afterward for their road opener in Phoenix on Wednesday.
The Rockets flew to Utah for another road game Wednesday.