Associated Press
After the game, the pool reporter spoke with crew chief Curtis Blair.
DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls and Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets were both removed from the game after being part of a physical altercation during the Bulls-Rockets matchup on Thursday night. Despite the incident, the Rockets secured a 127-117 victory.
The confrontation escalated as scrum members, along with team personnel and security, tried to intervene. Torrey Craig joined in and he and Brooks tumbled to the floor while tripping over a security guard who had also fallen.
Udoka remarked regarding Brooks: “He played exceptionally well and made a big impact. It’s just a shame he was ejected. However, I appreciate him standing up for his teammates.”
Blair explained that DeRozan received a flagrant foul penalty 2 due to the excessive and unnecessary contact. As a result, Brooks was given a technical foul and ejected for escalating the situation.
At 6:02 in the third quarter, while the Rockets were ahead 84-75, Jalen Green had possession of the ball, but was hit by DeRozan after running into a screen. This caused Green to fall to the ground in discomfort.
Donovan stated that he doesn’t believe DeMar’s goal was to receive a flagrant 2, it was simply a foul. It could have potentially been a flagrant 1 and resulted in a free throw. He doesn’t think DeMar ever intended for it to escalate to a flagrant 2, and was personally surprised by the decision.
According to Rockets coach Ime Udoka, he wasn’t satisfied with the incident where Brooks was elbowed. He added that after the elbowing, Brooks calmly approached the situation and did not make any reckless comments. However, it seems that the rules state that the person who initiates the altercation, in this case DeRozan, is the one who will face the consequences. Therefore, Brooks was ejected due to DeRozan’s actions.
Brooks became offended and quickly walked over to DeRozan, who had his back facing him. DeRozan then turned and appeared to have hit Brooks in the chin with his elbow, leading to the two getting their arms tangled. Other team members attempted to intervene.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan expressed his belief that there were instances of contact, fouls, and missed calls during certain drives. He specifically mentioned an incident where DeMar was involved in a screen and fouled Green.
Brooks was the top scorer on the team with 23 points when he left the game, making 10 out of 13 shots. DeRozan, on the other hand, only scored 16 points on 4-of-15 shooting in 23 minutes before exiting.
