LOS ANGELES — 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.
PELICANS 101, MAGIC 84
NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 26 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks, leading New Orleans to the season-opening win.
Ryan Anderson, coming back from surgery on a herniated disk that cost him more than half of last season, scored 22 points. The Pelicans’ new 7-foot center, Omer Asik, had a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
The tandem of Davis and Asik dominated the interior. They combined for 16 offensive rebounds, and the Pelicans finished with 32 second-chance points. Davis tied a career high for blocked shots, and Asik’s five blocks equaled his career best.
Tobias Harris scored 25 points for Orlando, while Nikola Vucevic added 15 points and 23 rebounds.
SPURS 101, MAVERICKS 100
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker had 23 points, including a big 3-pointer late in the game, and the San Antonio Spurs opened their title defense with a thrilling victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.
Manu Ginobili added 20 points for San Antonio, which shot 53 percent from the field. Tim Duncan had 14 points and 13 rebounds for his 14th double-double in a season opener, the most by any player in NBA history, according to Elias Sports.
Monta Ellis scored 26 points for Dallas, and Dirk Nowitzki had 18. Devin Harris finished with 17 points.
Following a video recap of the 2014 season narrated by actor and Spurs fan Samuel L. Jackson, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver presented San Antonio’s staff and players with their championship rings. The inscription inside the ring was “Good to Great,” which was coach Gregg Popovich’s mantra last season.
By wire sources