Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard Got Into a Scuffle Last Night

Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard get into a minor scuffle on the NBA's opening night leading to a double technical.

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Complex Original

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Last night, the NBA tipped off with the Spurs going to the wire against the Mavericks, and Anthony Davis utterly dominating Orlando. But for our money the most interesting clash took place in the midst of a beat down that the Rockets were putting upon the Lakers in Los Angeles.

In the middle of the 4th quarter, with a 25-point difference between the two teams, Dwight Howard pulled down a rebound and elbowed Kobe right in the face. Mamba wasn't having it, which we blame in-part due to his team getting their asses kicked, in-part due to L.A. losing their first round pick already, and in-part due to the elbow being Dwight Howard's elbow (of all elbows). This inevitably led to the league's first great altercation of the year. After looking at the tape it's obvious that Kobe says "Try me," to Howard before calling him "soft." As for what Dwight says? We don't know. Hopefully some of you guys can read lips better than we can. After the refs sorted the whole thing out (which took a couple of minutes) Kobe got hit with a personal foul, Dwight a flagrant one, and they each got a technical.

In case you're wondering they'll clash again in three weeks on November 19 in Houston.

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