The Nuggets and Rockets played a classic game on Monday night with Denver pulling out a 128-125 overtime victory. But the great game was overshadowed by some questionable officiating decisions and the reaction of Houston head coach Ime Udoka.
After the game, Udoka went on a bit of a tirade at his press conference, calling it “the most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time”, that the crew chief was “star struck”, that two of the refs “should be working at McDonalds”, and that one should “probably go home with Jokic tonight”.
There were definitely some borderline calls, with the most notable one on an away-from-the-play foul against Houston with seconds remaining in regulation that allowed Denver to tie the game. But that play was reviewed and appeared to be the correct call.
Also, there were a lot of fouls called, but there wasn’t a large discrepancy. Jamal Murray shot 15 free throws, and Nikola Jokic had 11, but overall, the Nuggets shot 33, and the Rockets took 26. For all of Udoka’s gripes about the Joker, Nikola had to leave the game early with his sixth foul and was the only player on either team to foul out.
Rockets frustrated after 2nd loss to Nuggets
Are some of Udoka’s complaints valid? Sure, probably. But there was a lot more that went into this game than some officiating, and for Udoka to reduce it to that seems petty, to say the least. The Rockets made the move of the offseason, trading for Kevin Durant, and they were supposed to go toe-to-toe with the Thunder.
But now, the Nuggets have bested Houston twice on this young season, pulling out two games in crunchtime that the Rockets likely feel they should’ve had. Clearly, some frustration is seeping in, and the coach is letting that frustration spill into the public eye.
Udoka is obviously trying to game the system a bit here, and some of these quotes will certainly make national headline news. He’ll probably get a big fine, but his hope is that his words will have a ripple effect throughout the league offices, and maybe they’ll take a closer look at the way games are officiated.
Will it earn his team his calls in the long run? Maybe. But is it a bad look for the Rockets, and does it reek of sore losers? Definitely. It’s safe to say that Jokic and the Nuggets are living rent-free in the heads of the entire Rockets’ organization.