HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- While officials Marc Davis and Jason Goldenberg stood before a monitor on the scorer’s table, Rockets forward Amen Thompson sat on the Rockets bench next to Tari Eason with a towel draped over his head.
Thompson had just grabbed Heat guard Tyler Herro by the jersey and thrown him to the floor, starting a fight that resulted in six ejections and a two-game suspension for Thompson throwing Herro in a “forceful manner”.
“Just heat of the moment,” Thompson said Tuesday, before the NBA announced his suspension. Intense game. Obviously, a little grabbing set it off.”
The fight came minutes after Fred VanVleet’s ejection for bumping Davis and capped a fourth quarter collapse that saw the Rockets blow a double-digit lead in the second half for a second consecutive game.
Thompson said he was thinking about what he had done wrong in the lead up to the fight, not the actual fight itself.
“I felt like a missed a play, let (Nikola) Jovic hit a three, and then I wasn’t available for Fred to give me the inbound pass on that five seconds (violation), so I felt like just two plays I could have done something different, helped us win that game.”
The 21-year, who is averaging 12 points and seven rebounds in his second NBA season, will miss games against the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics this week, but he is the only Rocket to garner a suspension from Sunday’s altercation.
The NBA fined Rockets guard Jalen Green $35,000 for his role in the fight, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka $50,000 for verbally abusing the officials and VanVleet $35,000 for making reckless contact with an official.
For his part, Herro avoided a suspension but was fined $25,000, while Heat guard Terry Rozier was suspended one game.
Herro said Sunday that he and Thompson had never spoken and there was no ill-will between the two, something Thompson re-iterated Tuesday.
“Growing up I used to get (into) stuff like that all the time with (twin brother) Ausar,” Thompson said. “Nothing personal, just competition.”