Ime Udoka walked out of the United Center on Monday night with two technical fouls, a Western Conference seeding slip on the ledger, and words for the officials that left nothing to interpretation.
The Houston Rockets head coach was ejected with 9.1 seconds remaining in a 132-124 loss to the Chicago Bulls, then stepped to the postgame podium and delivered a pointed review of the officiating crew. Houston fell from fourth to sixth place in the West with the defeat, dropping a half-game behind both the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves at the worst stretch of the regular season to be sliding.
“Flagrant’s soft as hell, it’s nothing. And then the techs were soft, too,” Udoka said after the game. “I don’t want to complain about a soft crew, so it is what it is.”
What Triggered Ime Udoka’s Ejection
Udoka’s first technical foul came in the first quarter, when he argued a flagrant foul 1 assessed to Rockets guard Amen Thompson following a referee review of an offensive-end collision. Udoka believed the contact did not warrant the flagrant designation.
His second technical came in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, when he disputed an offensive foul whistled against Kevin Durant as Durant attempted to set a screen. The Bulls converted all four free throws that followed the violations.
Ime Udoka says his players weren’t prepared
Isn’t that your job as the head coach??pic.twitter.com/rG7PLQgsaA https://t.co/BFEWi2qjo1
— Grace (@gracesporttakes) March 24, 2026
Chicago made those free throws count. Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, and Jalen Smith all hit 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds to close out the Bulls’ victory, erasing a Houston lead that had taken a full quarter-plus to construct.
Durant had put up 40 points on 15-for-23 shooting, and Alperen Sengun added a triple-double with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists to get the Rockets back in the game after falling behind by 20 after the first quarter.
Udoka did not spare his own team in the postgame review. “We didn’t respect the game or the opponent, and the only way they score 41 is if we’re playing the way we did on both sides,” he said.
He called it “another bad loss” in a pattern the Rockets cannot shake: per ESPN Research, Houston’s defeat Monday was its 12th this season to a team below .500, tied for the most by any team in the league with a winning record.
Coaches League-Wide Are Boiling
Udoka was not alone on Monday. Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse went viral the same night during his team’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, caught on camera loudly demanding the officiating crew call fouls on OKC’s physical defense.
“They are not perfect. They are not perfect. They foul too! They foul too, though,” Nurse said directly to a referee during the game. The Thunder have faced persistent accusations throughout the season that their physical defensive scheme from players like Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, and Cason Wallace receives favorable treatment from officials.
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This was two coaches on opposite coasts, in two separate games, melting down over officiating on the same night. With playoff seeding on the line across both conferences, the frustration building on NBA benches is not hard to understand.
For Udoka and the Rockets, what matters now is whether a team this talented can stop losing games it should be winning, regardless of what the officials call.
