Anger at NBA referees: Ime Udoka and Steve Kerr rip into NBA refs over questionable officiating

Ime Udoka and Steve Kerr had to be held back by players and their respective coaching staff for going after the referees in separate games. Udoka was tossed out late in the fourth quarter between the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings game on Tuesday. Kerr lambasted an official on the court after the Golden State Warriors’ controversial 119-115 loss to the Denver Nuggets on the same night.Udoka and Alperen Sengun were ejected together with 1:52 remaining in the game. This was the play that infuriated the Rockets coach:Udoka had this to say about his ejection:“Missed calls, blatant missed calls right in front of you. You’re calling ticky-tack moving screens and little s**t like that and you don’t want to call the obvious ones right in front of you. … Told them to get some f**king glasses and open your eyes.”Without Ime Udoka and Sengun, the Houston Rockets limped to the finish line to lose 120-111.Meanwhile, Steve Kerr blasted the referees with 5.1 seconds remaining in the game between the Nuggets and the Warriors. After Moses Moody missed a jumper, Christian Braun dove for the loose ball before signaling for a timeout that Denver didn’t have.The Nuggets would have received a technical foul if the referees called the infraction on Braun. Instead, a jump ball was called, which sealed the Dubs’ loss. A furious Kerr stormed after the referees on his way out of the court.Kerr had this to say in his postgame press conference:“Braun called a timeout. … That’s a technical foul. They don’t have a timeout. That’s a technical foul, we shoot a free throw and we get the ball. We get a chance to win the game. … Yeah, that made me mad!”The Denver Nuggets clung to a 119-115 lead. Steve Kerr’s Warriors would have had a chance to tie the game if they could hit one free throw and get ball possession.Ime Udoka and Steve Kerr have led their respective teams to a winning record roughly three months into the seasonThe loss to the Sacramento Kings snapped the Houston Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Ime Udoka’s team owns a 15-7 record after the defeat. They sit second in the tightly-contested Western Conference.Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors are mired in a five-game losing streak. Despite the slump, the Dubs still hold a 12-8 win-loss card for seventh in their conference.