Udoka names officials ‘fired up’, out of sorts after OT loss

ByNBAUSA



Houston Rockets head coach Making Udoka wasted no time going straight to the officials after the 128-125 overtime loss Denver Nuggets on Monday.

During his postgame press conference, Udoka, whose team overcame a halftime deficit to take a late lead in regulation, he didn’t hold back in his criticism of the referee at the match.

“Overall, I think it’s the worst game I’ve seen in a while,” Udoka said. “Two of them have no business being there and the crew chief is acting dumbfounded, so you’re seeing all kinds of inconsistent calls. And I’m sure we should have gotten a few more technicians.”

Asked what he tells his team under the circumstances, Udoka said: “Stay what we are. We’re not going to adjust badly – poor officials. So we’re going to do what we’re doing, and hopefully they’ll adjust and call it the right way.”

The Rockets certainly felt like they had a legitimate grievance at the end of regulation, when Amen Thompson was called for an off-the-ball foul with 2.3 seconds left and Houston leading 117-116. During the play-within-a-play, Thompson was booed by the referees for allegedly tripping Tim Hardaway Jr., who fell to the ground before the ball was thrown. The call was upheld after a Rockets-initiated review that understandably frustrated Houston players, staff and fans, especially after Jamal Murray made the free throw.

Although Nikola Jokic missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer, the Nuggets went on a 7-0 run to start overtime and held on, handing Houston its third loss in its last six.

With the loss to the current No. 2 team in the Western Conference, the Rockets are 16-7 on the season and fifth in the conference. They are 6.5 games behind the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 24-2 and hold a 4.5-game lead over the 19-6 Nuggets. Houston is also behind the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs (18-7) in the Western Conference standings.

The Rockets will try to get back on track Thursday against the conference’s last-place team, the New Orleans Pelicans.





2025-12-16 16:54:00

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