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Report: Disciplinary action forthcoming from Rockets-Clippers conflict

Robert Hanashiro / USA TODAY Sports

It wasn't quite "The Malice at the Palace," but the averted "Melee in the Hallway" is likely going to cost its instigators a pretty penny.

The NBA is still investigating the reported confrontations that occurred after the Rockets-Clippers game at Staples Center on Monday night, and is expected to levy widespread disciplinary action, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

With Chris Paul making his first appearance against the Clippers since leaving the team this summer, the state of affairs was tense from the get-go. And with the Clippers pulling away down the stretch en route to a 113-102 victory, expletives began to be hurled in all directions. Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni had some choice words for Blake Griffin and Trevor Ariza exchanged four-letter pleasantries with the injured Austin Rivers. The latter situation ultimately led to both Ariza and Griffin being ejected.

And that wasn't even the most incendiary scenario of the evening.

After the final whistle, the teams retreated to their respective locker rooms, but due to the Staples Center's outdated set-up, the close proximity of the two spaces only added to the fracas. Three Rockets players - allegedly Ariza, Gerald Green, and the injured James Harden - reportedly attempted to confront their adversaries via a back door to the Clippers' locker room while teammate Clint Capela attempted to distract the team by knocking on the front door.

If the situation was serious enough to require the attention of local law enforcement, it's no shock that the league would come down hard on both sides.

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