Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers earned a 107-97 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday. In the process, the future Hall of Famer had a testy exchange with Rockets head coach Ime Udoka.
The two exchanged words during the fourth quarter and were each issued a technical foul. For Udoka, it was his second of the game, leading to an automatic ejection.
After the game, James offered an amusing and playful summary of what he and Udoka were talking about.
Udoka is in his first season with the Rockets after an off-the-court controversy led to his dismissal from the Boston Celtics. He didn’t coach a game in the NBA in the 2022-23 season.
While the Rockets are currently below .500 at 8-9, they’ve exceeded some expectations in the early portion of the season and currently hold a play-in spot in the Western Conference. Last season, Houston was one of the worst teams in the league at 22-60.
One of the next steps for Udoka and the Rockets will be to find ways to win games away from home, as they’re 0-8 on the road this season. That’s a growing pain the organization has to live with as its young roster gains experience in the league.
The Lakers, meanwhile, are back on track thanks to their win over the Rockets. James had a relatively quiet showing on Saturday, finishing with 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds, but that was all the Purple and Golden needed from him in order to come away with a win.
At 12-9, the Lakers are in solid shape with roughly a quarter of the regular season in the books. They’ll be back in action on Tuesday for an In-Season Tournament showdown against the Phoenix Suns, but until then, they have some time to recharge.
Los Angeles and Houston are scheduled to meet one more time this season on Jan. 29, so if there’s any lingering bad blood between James and Udoka, it may be on display when that matchup rolls around.
In the meantime, both squads will look to remain in the postseason picture in the Western Conference.
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