John Wall and Russell Westbrook, the pair of maximum-wage guards exchanged for each other just before the training camps opened, stood near the free-throw line in the middle of the fourth quarter and went barking at each other Tuesday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Wall, who easily acknowledged that his adrenaline was pumping hard 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 how to talk about it.
Wall had just counted all of the Houston Rockets’ points during a critical 9-2 run: he got two cubes, sank two free throws, and delivered a 3 on the key jump, giving Houston a double-digit lead. in a 107-88 victory. The careful exchange of words that led to them being called double technical fouls – “only basic rubbish is talked about,” Wall said, came after Wall stumbled upon a Westbrook unit that caused a foul in the absence of 5:16.
“That’s what two competitive guys do,” said Wall, who scored nine of his 24 points in the fourth quarter of the Rockets ’third straight win. “Russ has been kicking my ass for years. This is only my third win against Russ, I think, since I’ve been in the league. So that means he’s quite a talent.
“I know he’s going through injuries, just like me, and we’re just trying to improve, trying to lead our teams. But [it was] only two competitive guys talk about garbage. It’s not the first time we’ve talked in the bin before and we know how good it can be. “
Westbrook, with a career history in meetings with Wall dropped to 11-3 with the loss, did not take such a diplomatic approach when asked about the court dispute.
“Listen now, I’m not starting to talk,” Westbrook said. “I defend myself because I don’t just allow people to say anything, especially when I know the facts about someone on the court playing against [me]. So I think [Wall and DeMarcus Cousins] he had just begun to speak: because they began to win and began to win at that moment.
“So, you know, it’s great, but we’re going to play them again.”
Westbrook downplayed his return to Houston, which had only one player in the starting lineup who was his teammate last season. He spent only one campaign with the Rockets before applying for a trade.
“I don’t like losing against anyone,” said Westbrook, who scored 19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 losses, his second game back after recovering from a quadriceps strain.
The Magi, however, have lost a lot this season. Washington, which is still missing some players after several games were postponed due to COVID-19 cases, is 3-10 overall and 1-8 in the games Westbrook has played.
On the other hand, this was a game Wall had been waiting for since the Wizards traded him, along with a future protected first-round pick, to the Rockets for Westbrook. Wall has repeatedly admitted that he felt despised that the Magi did not give him a chance to continue his career in Washington after returning from Achilles heel and tendon injuries that left him out for two years.
“I just feel like the organization thought it was over, no matter how hard I worked over the summer,” Wall said during a post-game interview on the Rockets TV show. “They came and watched me. I thought they thought I was finished. That’s why I came out here and did what I did.”
Wall had 15 points and four assists in the first half, highlighted by him dribbling side by side, before going back-to-back in the lane and finishing with his left hand in traffic.
Wall, who had a one-minute restriction in his second game back after a five-game absence due to a knee injury, struggled in the third quarter, missed all four shots from the ground and made two changes . But he closed out the Wizards in the fourth, when Wall combined with Victor Oladipo to score 19 of Houston’s 32 points in the first game of the new backcourt partners.
“I met this guy [Wall] for a long time, “said Cousins, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds.” I’ve seen his approach to great games and games that have some kind of importance to him. I’ve seen him perform at a high level every time, so I didn’t expect anything less. “