John Wall and Russell Westbrook, the pair of owners with maximum wages exchanged for each other just before the training camps opened, stood close to the free-throw line in the middle of the fourth quarter and barked at each other on Tuesday night at the Toyota Houston Center.
Wall, who readily acknowledged that his adrenaline was pumping strongly in his first game against the Washington Wizards after spending the previous decade with the franchise, had the upper hand and apparently wanted to make sure Westbrook knew about it.
Wall had just counted all the Houston Rockets’ points during a critical 9-2 run – getting two buckets, hitting two free throws and hitting a 3 on the key shot, giving Houston a double-digit advantage in what became a win by 107-88. The heated exchange of words that caused double technical fouls to be called – “just basketball bullshit,” said Wall – happened after Wall stumbled on a Westbrook drive that resulted in a foul with 5:16 remaining.
“That’s what two competitive guys do,” said Wall, who scored nine of his 24 points in the fourth period of the Rockets’ third straight win. “Russ has been kicking my ass for years. This is just my third win against Russ, I think, since I was in the league. That means he is a great talent.
“I know he is suffering from injuries, just like me, and we are just trying to improve, trying to lead our teams. [it was] just two competitive guys talking badly. This is not the first time we’ve talked badly before, and we know how good it can be. “
Westbrook, whose career track record in meetings with Wall dropped to 11-3 with defeat, did not take a diplomatic approach when asked about the court discussion.
“Now listen, I don’t start talking about —,” said Westbrook. “I defend myself because I don’t just allow people to say anything, especially when I know the facts regarding anyone on the court playing against [me]. So I think [Wall and DeMarcus Cousins] I started talking only — because they started to win, they started to win at that moment. So, you know, it’s cool. We play them again. “
Westbrook downplayed the significance of his return to Houston, which had only one player on the starting lineup who was his teammate last season. He only spent one season with the Rockets before requesting an exchange.
“I don’t like to lose to anyone,” said Westbrook, who had 19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 goals in defeat, his second game after recovering from a quadriceps sprain.
The Wizards, however, have lost a lot this season. Washington, which is still without some players after several games have been postponed due to cases of COVID-19, has 3-10 overall and 1-8 in the games that Westbrook played.
On the other hand, this was a game Wall was looking forward to, as the Wizards switched it, along with a future choice of protected first round, by the Rockets for Westbrook. Wall admitted several times that he felt scorned because the Wizards did not give him a chance to continue his career in Washington after returning from injuries to the heel and Achilles tendon that left him for two years.
“I just feel like the organization thought I was done, no matter how hard I worked over the summer,” Wall said during a post-game interview on the Rockets television broadcast. “They came and watched me. I thought they thought I was done. That’s why I came here and did what I did.”
Wall had 15 points and four assists in the first half, with an emphasis on his dribble from coast to coast, before going into the back and finishing with his left hand in traffic.
Wall, who had a minute restriction in his second game back after an absence of five games due to knee pain, struggled in the third quarter, missed all four shots from the floor and made two turns. But he closed the Wizards on Wednesday, when Wall teamed up with Victor Oladipo to score 19 of Houston’s 32 points in the first game of the new defense partners together.
“I know this guy [Wall] for a long time, “said Cousins, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds.” I saw his approach to big games and games that are of some importance to him. I’ve seen him perform at a high level, so I expected nothing less.