The NBA is handing down penalties to four players and one coach after Sunday’s fight between the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat. The on-court brawl ended when six people were ejected in the final seconds of the Heat’s 104–100 win.
The league announced the penalties via a press release on Tuesday, two days after the fight took place.
Rockets forward Amen Thompson, whose actions sparked the fight, has been suspended for two games without pay, while Heat guard Terry Rozier has been suspended for one game. Rockets guard Jalen Green was fined $35,000, and Heat guard Tyler Herro, who was involved in the initial exchange with Thompson, was fined $25,000.
The NBA also fined Rockets head coach Ime Udoka $50,000, with the league citing “verbal abuse of a game official” and saying Udoka did not leave on time after being ejected. Rockets assistant coach Ben Sullivan, who was also ejected from the game, was not fined.
Additionally, Rockets guard Fred VanVleet has been fined $35,000 for an unrelated incident earlier in the game. VanVleet was ejected 10 seconds before the fight after making “reckless contact” with a referee.
The fight started with an altercation between Thompson and Herro with 35.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter. As the two players clashed, Thompson suddenly got in Herro’s face, grabbed his jersey and pulled him to the ground. The incident led to a fierce brawl, with both teams surrounding the two players. It took assistant coaches, staff members and even arena security to diffuse the situation.
It’s unclear what exactly led to Thompson’s actions, but the result was a chaotic brawl that only escalated. The four Rockets players – Thompson, Green, Rozier and Herro – and two Rockets coaches received technical fouls and were ejected from the game. When play finally resumed, the Heat held on for the final 30 seconds to earn the four-point victory.
The punishment will cause Thompson to miss the Rockets’ games against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday and Boston Celtics on Friday. Rozier will miss the Heat’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
