HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Rockets forward to trigger an altercation that resulted in six ejections in the closing minute of over Houston on Sunday.
Thompson and Herro became entangled with Miami about to inbound the ball leading 99-94 with 35 seconds left. Thompson grabbed Herro by the jersey and tossed him, with referee Marc Davis describing it as Thompson .鈥�
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see it live, but I re-watched it,鈥� Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. 鈥淭hey were in each other鈥檚 face, bumping chests a little bit, and one guy鈥檚 stronger than the other.鈥�
Herro, Thompson, and Udoka were ejected, as were Heat guard Terry Rozier, Rockets guard Jalen Green, and Rockets assistant coach Ben Sullivan.
Davis said Green and Rozier escalated the altercation, while Sullivan was assessed a technical foul and ejected for unsportsmanlike comments as the referee was trying to redirect the Rockets' Alperen Sengun.
The altercation occurred after Miami had come from 12 points down in the second half to regain the lead with the help of Houston missing 11 straight shots in the fourth quarter. Herro keyed the comeback, leading all scorers with 27 points and adding nine assists and six rebounds.
He believed that's what frustrated Thompson.
鈥淕uess that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happens when someone鈥檚 scoring, throwing dimes, doing the whole thing,鈥� Herro said. 鈥淚鈥檇 get mad, too.鈥�
Herro said he had never spoken to Thompson, who did not talk to reporters after Sunday鈥檚 game, so there was no previous bad blood between the two.
鈥淛ust two competitors going at it, playing basketball,鈥� Herro said. 鈥淚t was a regular game that we were playing throughout.鈥�
Houston's Fred VanVleet had been ejected just before the fight, with Davis saying VanVleet made contact with him after being called for a 5-second violation.
The win for Miami came 24 hours after losing 120-110 in Atlanta. The Heat were missing second-leading scorer Jimmy Butler for a fifth straight game, so Herro was proud of his team played against one of NBA鈥檚 best teams this season.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e top two, three in the West,鈥� Herro said. 鈥淰ery good defense. Got a bunch of young, athletic guys that can really play, so that鈥檚 a good win for us. That鈥檚 a stepping stone. We go 2-1 on the road. Put ourselves in a position to win yesterday, and I like how it鈥檚 going. We just got to continue to keep getting better.鈥�
The Associated Press
