Throughout James Harden’s career, he has performed at a high level in terms of offense, and has also never been afraid to show how tough he is. Last night, he got into a scuffle with Evan Turner, and things escalated quickly.

The two star players exchanged some words, and were soon engaging in a shoving match that resulted in technical fouls for each of them. James Harden and Evan Turner were removed from one another by referees and players from both teams before things could get any worse.

Some fans who may have been out of the loop for a while could even be wondering what Evan Turner is doing in a Pacers uniform. He was recently traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Pacers in exchange for Danny Granger.

The Houston Rockets were hosting the Indiana Pacers, and with the third-best team in the western conference hosting the best team in the eastern conference, the game clearly could have gone either way in an intense battle.

James Harden is a legit superstar, and the Rockets are a legit championship contenders.

— NBA Forever (@NBAForever_) March 8, 2014

Although it was not the monstrous beat-down that the Clippers delivered to the Lakers just the night before, with the help of James Harden, the Rockets had no problem beating the top-ranked Pacers, and the game ended with a final score of 112-86.

The completely lopsided game finally saw a bit of acting midway through the third quarter when Harden and Turner got into each other’s faces for seemingly good reason. At the time of the interaction, the Rockets were up 73-50, and Turner prepared to shoot a lay-up in transition during a dead ball, as the Rockets had already been called for a foul.

Harden acted as if he were going to block the shot, and then Turner decided to simply hold the ball instead. While the game could have simply moved on from there, the two players were shown exchanging words with one another, and Evan Turner then made the first move when he pushed James Harden backwards with a right hand to the chest.

James Harden was flexing last night on the Pacers

— TuFat Shakur (@ThatFFMF_Fredo) March 8, 2014

A jealous Paul George during the James Harden & Evan Turner's intimate MOMENT! #PacersVsRockets pic.twitter.com/EB0sNSZHHD

— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) March 8, 2014

By the time the incident finally ended, and the game carried on, the Rockets went on to seal an easy victory. James Harden led all scorers with 28 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Turner had only five points and one rebound in the disappointing loss.

Following the conclusion of the game, Houston improved to 43-19 with its fourth straight win. Indiana dropped to 46-16 with its third straight loss.

Image via Youtube