Howard, Bryant Smack Talk as Rockets Roll Over Lakers in Season Opener

Scoreboard, Kobe. Scoreboard.

In a game that saw the Houston Rockets lead the LA Lakers for all but 21 seconds and go on to lead by 27 before finishing off the Lakers 108-90 at Staples Center, there were a couple of memorable highlights, neither of which involved basketball.

Late in the fourth quarter, former teammates Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant got into a jawing match after Bryant, pressuring Howard defensively, took an elbow to the face. The two were separated but dropped a handful of verbal jabs at each other. Howard seemed to be saying, "I know you," while smiling a wide grin. Bryant, losing by a wide margin, was less forgiving, at one point saying, "Soft" to his former center.

Their much publicized breakup has been punctuated by a recent article quoting anonymous sources who said Bryant was the reason the Lakers were unable to attract any marquee free agents.

Moments after the altercation, Lakers first round draft pick Julius Randle went down hard and remained seated on the floor under his own basket. He was carted off the floor on a stretcher in an air cast. The team later revealed he suffered a broken tibia. It was that kind of night for the Lakers, who will test the patience of Bryant, new coach Byron Scott and the LA fans.

And while the Rockets didn't exactly look like world beaters the entire night, they certainly had enough firepower to dismantle the Lakers in easy fashion.

James Harden led the way with 32 points (on only 17 shots) and 6 assists in just over 30 minutes of action. In fact, he sat the entire fourth quarter. Howard struggled with foul trouble all night but still managed 13 points and 11 rebounds. Newly added small forward Trevor Ariza added 16 points including 5-8 from three point range, a welcome sight considering the guy he replaced, Chandler Parsons, struggled mightily in San Antonio Tuesday night.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the night was the play of Terrence Jones. The young power forward had 16 points and 13 rebounds (6 on the offensive end) and racked up a double-double before the end of the first half. He shot 50 percent from the floor and was active all night. If he is truly able to develop his game via hustle as the Rockets have wanted, he could be a very important part of the Rockets playoff aspirations this year.

Former Rocket Jeremy Lin made his debut with the Lakers and wasn't exactly Lin-sane. He had 7 points and 6 assists, but shot only 1-5 from the floor and had 4 turnovers.

As a team, the Rockets were solid defensively and had only 3 turnovers in the first half finishing with 13 in the game, an improvement over last season albeit in just one game. They scored 31 in each of the first two quarters and cruised through the second half allowing the Lakers to close within single digits for a brief time in the third before blowing them out and resting the starters. No Rocket logged even 31 minutes of action and Howard played just over 20.