On December 30th, Beijing time, the Rockets suffered an unexpected collapse and defeat with a score of 100-104. They were leading by 12 points but managed to be overturned, committing an epic blunder in the final moments, resulting in VanVleet's ejection!
In the game between the Rockets and the Heat, the Rockets lost in a truly painful manner because the Heat had previously double-killed the Rockets for four consecutive seasons, achieving an overwhelming record of 8 wins to 0. Unexpectedly, in this game, the Rockets, who had once turned the tide, were struck back by the Heat again. Moreover, the 40 million dollar guard VanVleet was ejected at the last moment, adding insult to injury. Not only that, but a large-scale brawl erupted between the two sides at the end of the game, creating a very intense scene.
The Rockets have been holding their breath. After completing a big comeback in the third quarter with a 16:4 reversal, they had already seen hope of winning. However, in the fourth quarter, the Rockets' offense suddenly stalled, scoring only 12 points in 11 minutes, allowing the Heat to continue their reversal in a single quarter. With 47.2 seconds left, the Heat led the Rockets by 4 points with a score of 98:94, at which point the Rockets made a big mistake first.
After Udoka called a timeout and returned to inbound the ball, VanVleet directly committed a 5-second violation on the sidelines. At the last moment, he wanted to call a timeout to the referee, but it was too late, so VanVleet was penalized for a 5-second violation. After being penalized by the referee, he was still dissatisfied and continued to confront the referee, arguing with the referee and receiving additional penalties, resulting in a technical foul and ejection from the court.
At this moment, VanVleet made such a super big mistake, actually committing a five-second violation and scolding the referee, which can be said to have directly killed the game. Because he gave the Heat a free throw for nothing, the Heat made the free throw, and the point difference became 5 points. Then both sides started an intense conflict.
Amen Thompson and Tyler Herro had a conflict while jostling for position, and Amen directly grabbed Herro's collar and then used a wrestling move to take him down to the ground. He fiercely took down Herro, causing a large-scale conflict between both sides, and they immediately started fighting, even the Rockets head coach Udoka joined in!
Both sides started brawling on the floor, imagine even the Rockets' coach was about to get involved. Finally, Jalen Green rushed in to join the melee, and the two groups immediately started a conflict. Udoka also rushed over, yelling at the Heat side, and two assistant coaches almost couldn't hold him back. Sure enough, Udoka was the first to be ejected next.
Then Rozier rushed into the crowd to fight, and Green rushed over to take down Rozier. Amen and Herro had already started fighting, and the scene was very chaotic. Shen Jing and Jovic were still arguing. Therefore, the final result was that a total of 4 people from the Rockets were ejected, including head coach Udoka, Amen Thompson, Green, and an assistant coach. On the Heat side, Rozier and Herro, the two main participants in the fight, were both ejected. A total of 6 people from both sides were ejected, and the last fight was too exciting, unfortunately, the Rockets failed to win.