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Ime Udoka Calls Out ‘Inconsistent’ Officiating Crew After Rockets’ OT Loss to Nuggets

The Houston coach did not hold back his thoughts.

Madison Williams

Rockets coach Ime Udoka called out the officiating crew in his post-game press conference.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka called out the officiating crew in his post-game press conference. / Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images
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The Rockets and Nuggets dueled it out in an intense game on Monday night, resulting in a 128–125 overtime Denver win.

The biggest controversy of the night, though, was the officiating. Rockets coach Ime Udoka wasn’t happy about a lot of the calls, and he made his thoughts known in his postgame press conference.

“The most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time,” Udoka said. “[Officials Natalie Sago and Jamahl Ralls] have no business being out there and [crew chief Zach Zarba] was acting star struck. So, seeing all kinds of inconsistent calls and I’m sure we should’ve gotten a few more techs.”

The two teams did combine for a total of 59 free throw attempts off of 53 fouls called. There were also five technical fouls called and one flagrant foul. Nuggets stars Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas both fouled out of the contest.

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One of the most controversial calls of the night came with 2.3 seconds remaining in regulation as the Nuggets were attempting to either force overtime or win the game while being down 117–116. Before the final inbound from the Nuggets, Rockets star Amen Thompson was called for appearing to trip Tim Hardaway Jr. Udoka and Houston were not happy with this call, so they challenged it. The call was upheld, which gave Jamal Murray a free throw attempt, which tied the game and sent it to overtime.

Another questionable moment came in overtime when Thompson clearly stripped the ball out of Murray’s hands, but still was called for a foul. This moment came at a crucial time when Houston needed to attempt a run to have a chance of winning.

While Udoka was bashing the refs after the game, Murray played devil’s advocate in his press conference. The Nuggets star, who finished with 35 points and three fouls, explained how it would be impossible for the refs to call the game straight down the middle for both teams. There’s always going to be calls teams have issues with.

“I mean, it’s a physical game,” Murray said, via the Denver Post. “It’s tough for the refs to call both sides, like, dead even. I think they missed some calls on our end, and they missed some calls on their end, so I don’t really think that was an issue tonight.”

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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