The Los Angeles Lakers' season is off to a less-than-ideal start.
The Lakers dropped to 0-2 with another home loss on Friday night, this time falling to the Phoenix Suns 115-105 in a game Los Angeles trailed by as many as 32 points. And the Lakers' latest defeat featured an altercation between two teammates.
During a second-quarter timeout, Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard got into an argument on the Lakers' bench and had to be separated by teammates after Davis grabbed Howard's left arm.
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Following the loss, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said the Howard-Davis exchange stemmed from miscommunication on a defensive coverage.
"When you're getting your ass kicked, sometimes those conversations get heated," Vogel told reporters. "Those guys love each other. They talked it out. That's gonna happen from time to time. I'd rather our guys care than not care."
Howard didn't play in the second half, but Vogel said that wasn't due to disciplinary reasons.
Howard said he and Davis squashed their argument "right then and there."
"We already talked, squashed it. There's no issue between me and [Davis]," Howard said. "That's my brother, that's my teammate. That's what I told him. I said, 'I'll always be here for you. No matter what. I'll always fight for you and do whatever I can to help this team win.' He said the same thing. So, we're good."
Davis also downplayed the spat postgame, saying "it's over with."
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"After the situation happened, me and [Howard] talked about it and we left it at that," Davis said.
This isn't the first season Davis and Howard have been teammates, as Howard was part of the Lakers' 2019-20 championship team. After one season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Howard signed back with Los Angeles this past offseason.
Howard, Davis and the rest of the Lakers will try to get things on track when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.