Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images
Sure, most of the attention goes to Russell Westbrook making his Wizards debut. But serious basketball people know the truth: this was the Thomas Bryant revenge game.
In the previous preseason game, Detroit Pistons cheap-shot artist Blake Griffin flung Bryant to the ground in a pointless and gratuitously violent foul. Bryant lost composure and went after Griffin, and was so mad he pushed a ref away and got slapped with a $45,000 fine. Along the way, Griffin teammate Mason Plumlee called Bryant a name (easily discernible to lip readers) and then Griffin and Plumlee giggled to each other secure in their toughness — and the wall of players and refs between them and Bryant.