Howard on headbutt from Garnett: 'Doesn't matter, we won the game'
It's always nice to be able to pull out the scoreboard refrain when a trash talker takes things too far.
That was the weapon of choice for Dwight Howard on Monday after getting an ear full and a headbutt from Kevin Garnett in an altercation that saw the latter ejected from the game.
Howard had to be asked multiple times about the incident after the game before he provided an answer. That answer amounted mostly to a benign point at the final score, a 113-99 victory for his Houston Rockets over Garnett's Brooklyn Nets.
"Doesn't matter. We won the game," Howard said. "That's what matters. We've got 82 games and the playoffs. I'll do my damage when it's time."
The 7-footer also downplayed boos from the Barclays Center crowd, which came often in his eight-point, five-rebound performance. But he admitted the tussle with the veteran required some time to re-focus on the game, saying Garnett, who Howard idolized in high school, is one of the very best at getting in an opponent's head:
He's always been that intense guy that's gonna bring it every day at practice, and he really loves the game. And you can tell with his energy and effort. I think this is what, year 19? And he's still playing with the same intensity as year one.
...
Every time I play him he's always talking trash. He'll have you so upset by the end of the game.... Most of the time, he's just talking to himself, but you just think he's talking to you, so it's crazy.
Howard noted he was taking a page out of Garnett's book in starting the fight. He said he hit and squeezed the veteran's stomach, and when Garnett reacted to each poke, Howard continued to do it until Garnett hit his breaking point.
That's a nice piece of turnabout, but it's something Rockets head coach Kevin McHale wishes was no big deal.
"In the good old days, that was a play-on," McHale said. "Now they throw people out. I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
It was a headbutt. Garnett was going to get kicked out, that's just the reality of it, but it would have been entertaining to see the two bigs continue their spat throughout the rest of the game.
Garnett was unavailable for comment after the loss, as is often his prerogative.