With 4:13 remaining of the fourth quarter, a huge scrap broke out between the two teams started after Ingram shoved James Harden in the chest.
Tempers flared from there with Chris Paul and Rondo trading blows, the Lakers point guard shown to have spat towards his Rockets counterpart during the face-to-face to which Paul stuck a finger into Rondo’s face in response.
And executive vice president of the NBA’s basketball operations, KiKi VanDeWeghe, has announced that Ingram will face four games without pay for his role in the altercation after he threw a punch at Paul following his coming-together with Rondo.
In addition to his punch, Ingram has been charged with instigating the incident and confronting referee Jason Phillips for calling a technical foul due to his push on reigning MVP Harden.
His punishment is the longest issued for an on-court incident since April 2012 when another Lakers player, Metta World Peace, was handed a seven-game ban for an elbow on Harden when he played for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
James and the Lakers will also be without Rondo for three games, with the veteran punished for his role in instigating the scuffle and for spitting and punching Paul several times.
The Rockets star has also been suspended by the league office, for just two games, although has been handed the heaviest fine – $491,781. He missed the Rockets’
That is compared to Ingram’s $158,817 penalty and the financial hit that Rondo will take, $186,207.
The suspension is based on total salary divided by 145, according to ESPN’s NBA front office insider Bobby Marks.
But Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was not at all impressed with the verdict, strongly disagreeing with the decision to hand Paul a suspension of more than just one game.
“I don’t agree with it. It’s just not equitable,” he said ahead of Houston’s clash with the LA Clippers.
“If you watch the film, watch the spit, this and that, I understand if he gets one but what is he supposed to do?
“Just get spit on and take a punch in the face and say, ‘Well that’s okay’.
“It doesn’t many any sense to me but it’s a hard situation, I understand that but I don’t think it’s equitable.
“In the heat of the moment, when somebody does that, that’s tough. That’s really tough.
“I don’t know what they expect him to do. If you wanted to suspend him one [game] I get it, just to make a statement.
“Then you’re talking monetarily, he’s paying three times more than the other guys are paying for missing games? That doesn’t seem to be right. Anyway, that’s how it is. It obviously hurts but we’ve got enough [to get through it].”
Ingram and Rondo will begin their suspensions tonight when the Lakers face the San Antonio Spurs.
Commenting on the disciplines handed out, VanDeWeghe said: ”We don’t want this to happen again. [We’re] sending a clear message that this is not acceptable behaviour and you cannot do this.
“So in this particular instance, the multiple-game suspensions are pretty severe both to their teams and financially to the players.”
James himself had little to say when asked about the drama.
He declared: “Nah I didn’t see anything. I didn’t say nothing to my team after the game. You just try to calm things down, that’s all. [We’re just here to] play basketball.”