Coach Ime Udoka's Houston Rockets hit the road to battle the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night in a pivotal game among Western Conference contenders.
The Lakers made up ground on the Rockets with a workmanlike 104-98 win over coach Udoka's team, but it wasn't all smooth sailing for coach JJ Redick's Lakers.
One of the Lakers' unheralded players, small forward Dorian Finney-Smith, found himself in a playful verbal sparring match with Rockets center Steven Adams throughout the game.
The two well known players' seemingly innocent feud escalated into an altercation of sorts midway through the third quarter as Finney-Smith and Adams' entanglement was caught by TNT cameras.
Adams appeared to grab Finney-Smith's jersey which led to the two players of vastly different sizes facing off at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Adams and Finney-Smith exchanged words while TNT commentator Kevin Harlan attempted to diffuse the situation with humor.
"Finney-Smith said I don't like Jason Mamoa," Harlan said, comparing Adams to the famous Aqua Man movie character actor.
Harlan noted that the banter between the two players was light-hearted and friendly throughout the night. The scuffle led to double technical fouls.
Steven Adams: "You don't want this mate"
Dorian Finney-Smith: "You right but let's make it look good"
(this is NOT what was said but what I imagine the gist of it was) pic.twitter.com/RlfVBFc5SA
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) April 1, 2025
Next up for the Lakers is a Thursday night showdown with Steve Kerr's Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. on Thursday, April 3rd.
Related: Lakers' JJ Redick Sends Clear Message After Rockets Game
Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 10:53 PM.