LeBron James reacts to the scuffle between the Lakers and Rockets, saying he said nothing to his team and let Luke Walton do the talking. (0:26)

LOS ANGELES -- Houston Rockets star Chris Paul and Los Angeles Lakers players Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram all face suspensions as soon as Sunday following an on-court fight Saturday night that marred LeBron James' first home game as a Laker.

Paul and Rondo each threw and landed punches at each other. Ingram shoved James Harden and also threw a punch. After the players left the floor, a member of Rondo's family got into a confrontation with Paul's wife, Jada, multiple sources told ESPN.

Play was stopped for nearly 10 minutes while the referees tried to adjudicate the fracas that started with Ingram fouling and then pushing Harden. The scene exploded when Rondo landed a left-handed punch to Paul's face after the Rockets point guard poked a finger in Rondo's face.

The Rockets claim that Rondo spit in Paul's face, prompting the All-Star point guard and National Basketball Players Association president to retaliate.

"That's unacceptable," Carmelo Anthony said of the alleged spitting by Rondo. "You don't do that to nobody -- in sports, on the street. That's blatant disrespect. You don't do that. That's unacceptable. ... You don't even see that in the streets, man. I don't know what else to say about that."

Harden defended Paul's reaction.

"I mean, Chris had to stand up for himself," Harden said. "It is what it is. I don't care what man, anywhere, anytime, NBA game or in the streets."

Lakers officials watched tape of the scrum and are backing Rondo's contention that he didn't spit on Paul, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. However, Paul and the Rockets are insisting that Rondo did spit. "Lot of history between them," one source connected to both players told ESPN.

NBA executive vice president Kiki VanDeWeghe was at Staples Center on Saturday, and an investigation into the fight is already underway.

The NBA is expected to learn two things when Rondo and the Lakers make their case to the NBA on Sunday, sources told Wojnarowski. Rondo suffered a laceration under his right eye from Paul, which Rondo contends provoked him to throw a punch. Also, Rondo was using a mouthguard, which would presumably complicate the alleged act of spitting.

Paul and Rondo's bad blood dates back as far as tryouts for the 2008 Olympics, when Paul made the USA Basketball team. Rondo and Paul also had several run-ins while guarding each other in the first half Saturday prior to the incident.

The league office could take Rondo's previous suspension for directing an anti-gay slur toward referee Bill Kennedy in 2015 into consideration when determining his punishment, multiple sources told ESPN.

All of the excitement in the crowd surrounding the game turned into stunned amazement as James had to separate his good friend Paul from the rest of the Lakers while Paul tried to throw a punch back.

"I just tried to calm things down, that's all," James said. "Play basketball."