The Houston Rockets find themselves on the brink of elimination after losing Game 4 to the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday night. It was a frustrating night for the Rockets who were blown out for the second straight game. Dwight Howard, especially, had a difficult night only registering seven points and six rebounds in limited action as result of early foul trouble.
He was visually upset and failed to get into any rhythm on the court. It even got to the point where he clashed with a fan heckling from the stands. An Instagram post from Los Angeles Lakers fan S.Sami shows the Rockets center exchanging words with him and inviting him to step on to the court:
Who do you root for when you hate both the teams playing?
A photo posted by S. Sami (@s_universal) on
Early in the fourth quarter, Howard was ejected after picking up his second technical foul of the night. The last time Howard was in the Laker jersey, he also left the game early while walking past general manager Mitch Kupchak.
Howard spent one year with the Lakers before leaving for the Rockets during the summer of 2013. His departure upset fans as the team has struggled in the two seasons since. It seemed to reach a peak during the past season’s opening game when Kobe Bryant called Howard ‘soft’ while the two got into a verbal argument.
The Lakers are still trying to recover and rebuild after losing Howard. Last season, they drafted Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. As the team enters the off-season this summer, they have a protected top-five pick and plenty of cap space to make offers to free agents. The Lakers will learn their draft pick fate May 19 during the NBA Draft Lottery.
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