The Los Angeles Lakers will be without Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo for Wednesday’s game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Wednesday. Sunday the NBA suspended the pair for their roles in Saturday’s scuffle against the Houston Rockets. Ingram will miss four games, Rondo will sit for three. The NBA ruled that Ingram will sit for “aggressively returning to and escalating the altercation and throwing a punch in the direction of (Chris) Paul, confronting a game official in a hostile manner, and instigating the overall incident by shoving Rockets guard James Harden.” Rondo suspension is for “instigating a physical altercation with, and spitting and throwing multiple punches at Paul.” Those suspensions begin with the Lakers’ Monday matchup with the Spurs. Wednesday’s game in Phoenix is scheduled for a 7p tip.<doc-sep>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just three games into LeBron James' tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, they were missing two suspended starters when they faced the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Although nobody thought James' time on the West Coast would be boring, Brandon Ingram is sorry for his role in getting this season off to a weird start. Ingram is also grateful he received only a four-game suspension for his role in the Lakers' brawl with the Houston Rockets. The normally mild-mannered forward confronted referee Jason Phillips, shoved James Harden and threw punches at Chris Paul. "Well, it was better than we expected," Ingram said after the Lakers' morning shootaround. "I'm happy it's only four. But I know I've got to control my emotions a little bit better. ... I thought it would be more than four, but I'm happy that it's at least four." Rajon Rondo also began his three-game suspension two days after spitting and punching in his altercation with Paul, a longtime rival. James was a peacemaker in the drama when he pulled away Paul, his good friend. The three-time NBA champion shrugged off any deep analysis of the brawl and his role in it, attributing everything to a temporary flaring of emotions with no bigger significance for his relationship with the Lakers or Rondo. "All I cared about was trying to get the thing over with so we could get back to the game," James said. "That's all that was on my mind at the end of the day. Just trying to separate the whole altercation, help the referees out." When asked if his friendship with Paul made it strange to be on the other team during the scrap, James only laughed. "No, it actually — we're not friends anymore," he said with a smirk. Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball took the spots of Ingram and Rondo in the starting lineup against the Spurs. Rondo declined to talk about his role in the scuffle that broke out late in his first home game with his new team. The Lakers already spoke about the conflict in a team meeting, he said. Story continues "Everyone knows who I am on my team, and I think they still respect me for what I do and what I bring to this team," Rondo said. Ingram was more forthcoming about his actions, which began with his frustration over a foul called against him as he tried to stop an aggressive drive by Harden, one of the NBA's most maddening players to guard. "It's my full responsibility," Ingram said. "I think I'm the one that caused the action, and I'm going to take full responsibility for every action that I did. One hundred percent that I was wrong for my teammates, but I also stepped up for my teammates, and that's what I want to do 10 times out of 10." Ingram shoved Harden in frustration — and when he got a technical foul, he got in Phillips' face. Teammates got him away from the drama, but when Rondo and Paul threw down, Ingram ran back down the court and jumped into the fight with punches for Paul, including one deemed by the league to be "extremely aggressive." Ingram knows he was wrong, but he also doesn't regret everything about it. "I think I seen five Rockets players and two of our guys," Ingram said. "That's what made me go back. ... It was a physical game. I think all in all, I think if they're going to do a couple of things, we had to have the aggressiveness and the confidence and ability to fight back, so that's what we did." ___ More AP NBA: www.apnews.com/tag/NBA and www.twitter.com/AP_Sports<doc-sep>The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers didn't waste any time in turning up the intensity on this new NBA season. Just a few nights into the season, the two Western Conference foes got into a brawl late in the fourth quarter of their matchup over the weekend. Now, the players involved have spoken to the media for the first time since the incident. Brandon Ingram, who sparked things initially by shoving James Harden, then later rejoined the fray to throw a punch at Chris Paul, was given a four-game suspension by the league. Early on Monday afternoon, Ingram said he was happy the suspension wasn't longer, and pledged to take "full responsibility." Meanwhile, Rajon Rondo, who turned things up a notch by spitting on Chris Paul, which led to the fracas, didn't have much to say. Rondo earned himself a three-game suspension. This is an interesting contrast in reactions, though ultimately not too surprising. Ingram did indeed spark things with his unnecessary shove on Harden, and as a young player still trying to prove himself in the league, he'll be eager to put the event behind him. Rondo, meanwhile, has always been an interesting guy, and this dismissive response isn't out of character from him. The brawl began late in the fourth quarter, when Ingram shoved Harden after being called for a foul on the fastbreak. Ingram then squared up to an official, who was standing in between him and the Rockets guard. As players gathered around that incident, Rondo appeared to spit on Paul, which led to Paul poking Rondo in the face. In retaliation, Rondo popped Paul with a left hook, and tried to follow up before he was held back. Paul got in an uppercut of his own, while Ingram then come running back in, winding up for a haymaker that didn't end up doing much damage.<doc-sep>
The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets set the NBA on fire, but not for a good reason. During their matchup last Saturday night, tempers flared and wound up hitting a breaking point when Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo got into a fist fight on the court. Lakers forward Brandon Ingram also got involved by throwing a punch at James Harden. According to Paul, things escalated when Rondo apparently spit in his face, something the Lakers guard adamantly denied. Ingram got into it with Harden shortly after that, and things took a while to cool down. It was an ugly situation which got so out of control that ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk reported Rondo’s family got into a confrontation with Paul’s wife, Jada in the stands. Ingram received the largest suspended, given a four-game ban by the league, while Rondo was suspended three games and Paul got two games, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. When Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram Will Return The Lakers have played two games since the incident, and the first was a 143-142 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. That was followed up on Wednesday in a 131-113 win over the Phoenix Suns. The victory over the Suns was the Lakers’ first of the season, and Thursday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets will mark the final game of Rondo’s suspension. This means the Lakers starting point guard will return on Saturday, October 27 for the second game against the Spurs in less than a week. While Rondo is back after the Nuggets game, Ingram will miss that one as well as the Spurs game Saturday. This sets his return date for Monday, October 29 in a road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. READ NEXT: Lakers’ Lonzo Ball Shows off With Crazy Dunk