DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls and Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets were both ejected after an on-court altercation during Thursday night’s game, which the Rockets won 127-117.
With 6:02 remaining in the third quarter and the Rockets leading 84-75, Jalen Green was bringing the ball up the court when DeRozan, coming off a screen, collided with him, causing Green to fall to the court in pain.
“I think there was some contact on some drives, some fouls, previous calls that were not called,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “Obviously, DeMar jumped off of that screen and fouled Green.”
Brooks took offense and immediately confronted DeRozan, who had his back turned. DeRozan turned and appeared to elbow Brooks in the chin, leading to a physical altercation between the two players, with teammates intervening to break it up.
Dillon Brooks (Via NBA/Twitter)
“I didn’t love it, being that he got elbowed,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of Brooks’ ejection. “He walked over and didn’t say anything crazy. But they say the rules are the guy that kind of instigates it to get it to that step after DeRozan did what he did, he got [ejected] because of that.”
The altercation escalated with team staff and security trying to intervene. Torrey Craig also got involved, and he and Brooks fell to the ground after tripping over a security guard.
Following a review, DeRozan was assessed a flagrant foul penalty 2 for excessive and unnecessary contact and was ejected from the game. Brooks received a technical foul and was ejected for his involvement.
“I don’t think DeMar’s intention was to get a flagrant 2. Certainly, it was fouling, and of course, flagrant 1, and they’re shooting a free throw,”
DeMar DeRozan (Via NBA/Twitter)
Donovan said. “I don’t think that was ever his intention to do that. I actually was a little surprised that it got increased to a flagrant 2, personally.”
Udoka commented on Brooks, saying, “Had a great game, great impact, wish he didn’t get ejected, but like I said, I don’t mind him standing up for his guys.”
Brooks had scored a team-leading 23 points at the time of his ejection, shooting 10-of-13 from the field, while DeRozan had 16 points on 4-of-15 shooting in 23 minutes.
Crew chief Curtis Blair explained the decisions, stating, “DeRozan was assessed a flagrant foul penalty 2 because the contact was excessive and unnecessary. Because Brooks escalated the situation, therefore he was given a technical foul and ejected.”
