Udoka fined $25,000! Publicly criticizes referees; Rockets suffer from three overtime miscalls

On December 18th Beijing time, the NBA released the penalty notice, fining Houston Rockets coach Udoka $25,000 due to his public criticism of the officiating following the team's narrow overtime defeat to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

In a postgame interview, Udoka bluntly stated that this was “the worst officiating I have seen in a long time.” He also said, “Two of the referees were completely unfit to officiate this game, and the lead referee acted like a fan chasing after stars. The calls on the court were inconsistent and contradictory throughout.”

Although the Nuggets committed more fouls that evening (28 compared to the Rockets' 25), the league’s report on the referees’ decisions in the final two minutes of the game showed that all three incorrect calls during overtime ultimately favored the Nuggets.

The report specifically identified three misjudgments —

At 1:40 remaining in overtime, a foul called on Rockets forward Durant against Jokic was incorrect;

At 1:08 left in overtime, Nuggets wing player Hardaway committed a foul on Sengun while contesting possession, but the referees did not call it;

With 47 seconds remaining in overtime, the referees wrongly called a foul on Rockets guard Amen Thompson against Murray.

It was these two mistaken foul calls on Durant and Thompson that gave Jokic and Jamal Murray four free throw attempts, all of which they made. The Nuggets eventually won narrowly by 3 points (128-125), and those four free throws were the decisive margin that determined the outcome.