Amen Thompson stunningly slammed Tyler Herro to the ground after the two grabbed each other’s jerseys with 36 seconds remaining in a tense battle between the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat, leading to six ejections.
Miami won, 104-100, but the Houston forward stole the headlines as referee Marc Davis even described the action as Thompson “body slams Herro.”
After review, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was ejected along with assistant coach Ben Sullivan and Jalen Green. The Heat saw Terry Rozier get ejected as well.
Prior to the fight, Fred VanVleet was also ejected after being called for a five-second violation and making contact with Davis.
New Bad Boys In Town?
Miami is a team known for its physicality, but this season, Houston seems to have taken on the mantle with the league’s second-best defense and hard-nosed players like VanVleet and Dillon Brooks being irritants.
Thompson has been one of the league’s best defenders and perhaps felt the frustration of his team coughing up a 12-point lead midway through the third quarter and missing 11 straight shots in the fourth quarter. It was Herro primarily responsible for the Heat coming back, finishing with 27 points, six rebounds, and nine assists.
“Two competitors going at it, playing basketball,” Herro said after the game. “Just a physical game, guess that’s what happens when someone’s scoring, throwing dimes, doing the whole thing, so, I’d get mad, too.”
This is the identity Udoka has been seeking to build with the Rockets since he took over as head coach in 2023. His team has been one of the biggest surprises of the season with a 21-11 record, good for third in the West as we come up on the halfway mark of the season.
Tempers Flaring Of Late
While it’s been the holiday season, it seems as though there’s been tension brewing around the league. This comes on the heels of a fight that broke out between Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic and Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall on Dec. 27. The former was suspended for four games while the latter received a three-game suspension.
Mavericks forward P.J. Washington also received a one-game suspension for his role in the altercation.
After getting called for an offensive foul early in the third quarter, Nurkic confronted Marshall and swung at his head while Marshall responded with a punch. Washington then shoved Nurkic to the ground before teams had to be separated.
Dallas won the game, 98-89, despite the absence of Luka Doncic, who will be out for at least a month due to a calf injury.
