Rockets Coach Ime Udoka Fined for Critical Comments on Officiating

The Houston coach didn’t hold back in his press conference after Monday’s overtime loss to the Nuggets.

Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was fined for making critical comments about the officiating crew. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Rockets coach Ime Udoka went viral on Monday night after he was highly critical of the officiating crew from the game that night vs. the Nuggets.

On Wednesday, the NBA fined Udoka $25,000 for his “public criticism of the officiating.”

Udoka called the officiating during Monday night’s 128–125 overtime loss to Denver “inconsistent,” while also saying it was “the most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time.”

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The Rockets–Nuggets game did see a lot of calls as the two teams combined for a total of 59 free throw attempts off of 53 fouls called. There were also five technical fouls called and one flagrant foul. Denver stars Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas both fouled out of the contest.

The Last Two Minute Report from the game showed only three missed calls in those final minutes despite Udoka’s outcry for mistakes. One of the most controversial calls 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. The report said it was a correct non-call.

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