The Houston Rockets and Miami Heat are both known for their physicality and attitudes. These are teams that are more than willing to get into a scrap and make things uncomfortable for their opponents, and when two such teams share an NBA floor, things can get testy pretty quickly. That seemed to be the case in the final minute on Sunday, as seven people were ejected as the Heat closed out a 104-100 win in Houston.
Things started with 47.1 seconds remaining and Fred VanVleet attempting to inbound the ball for the Rockets. VanVleet tried to call a timeout, but was called for a five-second violation by referee Marc Davis instead. VanVleet argued with Davis, but seemed to accidentally bump into him and was quickly ejected.
“After the correctly assessed five-second violation, Fred VanVleet asked me why he was not granted a timeout,” Davis explained in the postgame pool report. “I communicated to him that the five-second count was reached prior to him requesting the timeout. He walks away. Coach Udoka then asks for an explanation. I give it to him and then Fred VanVleet re-engages and intentionally contacts me and is ejected as per rule.”
Mere seconds later, the Heat were attempting to inbound the ball when Amen Thompson and Tyler Herro grappled with one another. Thompson pulled Herro to the ground, and both teams rushed 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 from 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 pool report. “Herro responds and they are both ejected for fighting fouls. Green is ejected as his actions escalated the altercation. Rozier as well is ejected as his actions were escalators to the altercation. Coach Sullivan is assessed a technical foul and ejected for his unsportsmanlike comments directed at me as I was attempting to redirect [Alperen] Sengun.”
Afterward, Herro suggested that his strong performance helped lead to the incident.
“Guess that’s what happens when someone’s scoring, throwing dimes, doing the whole thing,” said Herro, who finished with 27 points, nine assists and six rebounds on 10-for-17 shooting. “So I’d get mad, too.”
Udoka took the opportunity to express the physical superiority he believes Thompson holds over Herro.
“They were in each other’s faces, bumping chests a little bit,” Udoka said. “One guy is stronger than the other.”
The Heat went on to close out the victory from there, but further discipline is almost certainly coming for both sides in the coming days. On Friday, a fight between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks yielded suspensions for three players: Naji Marshall (four games), Jusuf Nurkic (three games) and P.J. Washington (one game).
It has been a trying week for both teams. The Rockets have now lost two consecutive games, and their Friday defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves came on an Anthony Edwards 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds remaining. The Heat, meanwhile, have dealt with trade rumors involving star wing Jimmy Butler that got so loud team president Pat Riley had to come out and say publicly that the Heat would not move him. Combine that with an extremely physical game on Sunday and tempers simply boiled over.
Now the Heat and Rockets are both likely to pay for this with suspensions in the next day or two.
