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Rondo continues to deny spitting incident, calls Paul 'horrible teammate'

Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The animosity between Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo and Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul, which resulted in a physical altercation in Saturday's game between the two teams, appears to be far from over.

Rondo finally went on record about the fight after initially declining to comment on the matter.

Central to the 32-year-old's frustration is his belief that the league handed out punishment for the incident based on the perception that Paul is a "good guy."

"Of course, the NBA went with his side because I got three games and he got two," Rondo told ESPN. "Everyone wants to believe Chris Paul is a good guy. They don't know he's a horrible teammate. They don't know how he treats people. Look at what he did last year when he was in L.A.; trying to get to the Clippers' locker room. They don't want to believe he's capable of taunting and igniting an incident."

Rondo also doubled down on his insistence that he didn't intentionally spit in Paul's face, citing his mouthpiece as a physical obstacle. Rondo said his body language - "my hands on my hips" - wasn't that of someone anticipating fisticuffs.

"Y'all are playing me with these tricks or these mind games, tampering with the evidence," said Rondo. "Ain't no way that I intentionally spit on (Paul) with my body language the way it was."

Only time will tell what body language will be present next time Rondo and Paul share the floor. The highly anticipated second meeting between the Lakers and Rockets is set for Dec. 13 in Houston.

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