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How John Lucas III joined the fake tough guy club

Russ Isabella / USA TODAY Sports

There wasn't much about the Rockets' 124-86 demolition of the Jazz that's worth discussing, but fans who stuck around in Houston or continued watching on TV were treated to some absolutely pathetic behavior from John Lucas III.

First, Lucas executed a sneaky steal on Isaiah Canaan while the Rockets rookie was just trying to dribble out the clock, which is pathetic in its own right.

There's nothing valiant about the whole 'playing to the buzzer' thing here. The team that won by 38 points was doing the right thing and doing what virtually every winning NBA team does every night when they have the last possession in a game that's over. They weren't mocking the Jazz by doing it, though Lucas apparently had a problem with the Rockets taking some late three-pointers.

For one, Houston is a three-point heavy team and it's going to continue to run its sets until the shotclock is turned off, which is when it then attempted to dribble out the clock. If your team can't stop them, that's not the Rockets' problem.

Stealing the ball - from behind, against a rookie no less - in that situation doesn't say anything about your fight and desire. Would Lucas have preferred that Canaan and the Rockets try to score to make it a 40-point game?

Maybe if Lucas had managed to shoot better than 1-of-7 or had managed more than two points, two assists and a rebound in his 12 minutes of action, he wouldn't have to go stat hunting and point proving in the dying seconds, down 38.

But that wasn't the end of it, because when Francisco Garcia took exception to Lucas' end of game shenanigans, Lucas responded with this (see - 15 second mark):

What you have there is Lucas shoving Garcia, putting his fists up, throwing a hilarious punch at the air while backing away from Garcia, and then stepping back up once teammates and others have gotten between them. It was the epitome of 'fake tough guy' nonsense, made even more ironic by Lucas' comment after the game that he "don’t back away from nobody."

Lucas is a feisty competitor and a 5-11, 165-pound guard who has lasted parts of six seasons in the Association despite his undersized frame, so good on him. But perhaps the one night you should take a pass on claiming to never back away from a fight is the night the whole basketball world saw you literally back away from a fight. 

Assuming a fighting stance as you're backing away, throwing a punch you knew damn well had no chance of landing, and waiting to make sure the fight was definitely off before moving forward again doesn't count, John.

Basketball isn't a combat sport, and there's nothing wrong with a player not wanting to fight, as we discussed with regard to Blake Griffin last week. But if you are going to pretend to be the guy who's up for some fisticuffs, you're going to have to do a lot better than John Lucas did last night to convince us you're anything more than another fake tough guy.

For his part, Lucas at least appeared to realize and accept his buffoonery after having some time to think about it:

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