LOS ANGELES, Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis and others claim that their physical confrontation at the Los Angeles Lakers bench was a temporary disagreement that has been resolved.

The Lakers still have much more work to do, even if their big men seem to be getting along.

Chris Paul scored his 20,000th point in his career with 23 points and 14 assists. Devin Booker added 14 to the Phoenix Suns' 115 -105 win over the winless Lakers.

While the Lakers could not defend Paul and ran no offensive plays for long periods, they were 0-2 in this season's regular season. However, they ignited social media when Howard and Davis had a confrontation on the bench during a first-half stoppage.

Howard stated, "We had a disagreement over something that was taking place on the floor." We are both passionate about winning. We didn't want this game to end. We won. We are now mature men. Things happen. We had already spoken. It was squashed. We have no problems between us. That's my brother. This is my teammate.

After a brief physical confrontation, Howard was relegated to the bench and his teammates split up. Davis claimed that the dispute was over how to play a pick-and-roll game.

Davis said, "It's over," and had 22 points as well as 14 rebounds. "After the incident, me and DH discussed it... and then we went to halftime."

Paul was the first player to combine 20,000 points and 10,000 career assists in NBA history. The defending Western Conference champions took down the Lakers 32 points behind in the third quarter.

LeBron James had 25 points while Russell Westbrook had 22 points. Russell also had 11 rebounds, nine assists and 21 points. Los Angeles fell to 0-2 in its reboot season. Despite playing well in the first quarter and the final quarters. In a minor rematch of last summer's first-round playoff series, won by Phoenix, the Suns prevailed.

The Suns retained their winning core, but the Lakers now have 12 new players. They also have a long way to go following their offseason decision not to rebuild around three players from the roster that won the championship last year.

James stated that building a team is not the only thing you need to do. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. We'll know when it is. We need to keep pushing right now."

The Lakers were more aggressive on the court than they were on the court during the middle quarters while being outscored by thirty points. In addition to the battle between Howard and Davis there was also a confrontation between Rajon Rondo, a fan heckling Rajon Rondo.

Howard stated, "We're just trying get it together." This is our second game. Many people have already started to count us out. Many people laugh at us and joke with us. We know what is at stake. We want to win. We are passionate. We want 18 (championships to the Lakers), so it's not possible for us to stop until we reach that goal.

TIP-INS

Suns: Landry Shamet, despite right foot soreness and scoring three points in fifteen minutes, played Suns. ... Mikal Bridges scored 21 and Jae Crowder scored 13.

Lakers: Carmelo Anthony scored 16 point for the Lakers. ... Austin Reaves, a rookie, scored his first basket of his career and made his first 3-pointer in quarter four.

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Paul scored his milestone 20,000th points on a free throw in quarter 2. The 36-year old point guard proudly carried the game ball to his postgame interview.

Paul said, "Like a child." "When you're done with this game, you want things to keep in your mind. This will be my permanent record.

Paul is the 47th player to reach that point in NBA history. He is currently fifth in league records with 10,299 assists. In the next few games, he should surpass Mark Jackson (10.334) and Steve Nash (10.335) to take third in assists.

THE HEAVEN-HO

After he had a heated exchange with Rondo, a fan was removed from a courtside bench in the third quarter. Security spotted the fan and the veteran point guard slapped him before he was led out.

UP NEXT

Suns: Saturday Night in Portland

Lakers: Memphis hosts the Lakers on Sunday night.