Houston’s Steven Adams and Phoenix’s Mason Plumlee were ejected from an NBA game on Wednesday after an altercation in the second quarter.
The two players got tangled up while fighting for a rebound with about three minutes left in the first half.
As they walked away from the basket, Adams lifted Plumlee off the floor and wrestled him to the court.
Plumlee landed on top of Adams, and the two continued to scuffle on the ground until players and officials from both teams intervened.
After being separated, Plumlee was seen with a cut above his right eye but stated that the injury wasn’t serious.
The play was reviewed, and both players were given double technical fouls and ejected. Plumlee explained that the situation escalated after Adams had been aggressively going for rebounds, and he responded with physicality.
Both coaches expressed surprise at the ejections. Houston coach Ime Udoka felt that it looked like a wrestling match and didn’t expect such a penalty.
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer agreed, calling it a physical exchange between two contenders.
Phoenix’s Devin Booker also felt that Plumlee shouldn’t have been ejected, suggesting that Adams initiated the incident by attempting to slam him.
Crew chief Tony Brothers explained the ejections, saying that the aggressive actions were considered a fight, which resulted in automatic ejections according to NBA rules.