The Houston Rockets and Miami Heat are known for their physicality and attitude. These are teams that are more than willing to get into fights and make things uncomfortable for their opponents, and when two of those teams share a NBA floor, things can get testy pretty quickly. That appeared to be the case in the final minute Sunday, when seven people were ejected as the Heat closed out a 104-100 victory in Houston.
Things started with 47.1 seconds left and Fred VanVleet was trying to score the ball for the Rockets. VanVleet tried to call a timeout, but referee Marc Davis called a five-second violation. VanVleet argued with Davis, but appeared to accidentally bump into him and was quickly ejected.
“After the five-second violation was properly assessed, Fred VanVleet asked me why he wasn’t given a timeout,” Davis explained in the group’s postgame report. “I informed him that the five-second count had been reached before he called a timeout. He walks away. Coach Udoka then asks for an explanation. I give it to him and then Fred VanVleet gets involved again and intentionally contacts me and is ejected. according to the rule.”
A few seconds later, the Heat were trying to capture the ball when Amen Thompson and Tyler Herro fought each other. Thompson knocked Herro to the ground and both teams ran to the aid of their own players.
When the dust settled, six more people were ejected. Four of them were players: Thompson and Jalen Green on the Houston side and Herro and Terry Rozier on the Heat. Two more were coaches, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and Houston assistant Ben Sullivan.
“During the dead ball, Thompson grabs the jersey and body slams Herro,” Davis said after the game in the group report. “Herro responds and both are ejected for fighting fouls. Green is ejected because his actions escalated the altercation. Rozier is also ejected because his actions were escalators to the altercation. Coach Sullivan is charged with a technical foul and ejected for his unsportsmanlike comments directed at me while trying to redirect [Alperen] Segun.”
Herro later suggested that his good performance contributed to the incident.
“I guess that’s what happens when someone scores, throws dimes and does everything.” said brotherwho finished with 27 points, nine assists and six rebounds on 10 of 17 shooting. “So I would be angry too.”
Udoka took the opportunity to express the physical superiority he believes Thompson has over Herro.
“They were facing each other, beating each other’s chests a little bit.” Udoka said. “One man is stronger than the other.”
The Heat closed out the victory from there, but both sides will almost certainly receive more discipline in the coming days. On Friday, fight between Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks suspensions transferred for three players: Naji Marshall (four games), Jusuf Nurkic (three games) and PJ Washington (one game).
It has been a difficult week for both teams. The Rockets have lost two straight games, and their Friday loss at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves came on a 3-pointer by Anthony Edwards with less than 30 seconds remaining. Meanwhile, the Heat have dealt with trade rumors involving star wing Jimmy Butler that made so much noise that team president Pat Riley had to come out and say publicly that the Heat wouldn’t move him. Combine that with an extremely physical game on Sunday and tempers simply boiled over.
Now the Heat and Rockets are likely to pay for this with suspensions in the next day or two.
