HOUSTON -- A heavyweight wrestling match broke out Wednesday night at the Toyota Center, resulting in the ejections of a pair of big men: the Houston Rockets' Steven Adams and the Phoenix Suns' Mason Plumlee.
"Their aggressive actions were considered a fight, and by rule, fighting technical fouls carry a penalty of automatic ejection," crew chief Tony Brothers told a pool reporter.
Adams and Plumlee got tangled up while battling for rebounding position on a made jumper by Houston's Jalen Green with just over three minutes left in the second quarter. Seconds later, they ended up on the floor with a scrum of players, coaches and security staffers around them.
"He goes for every rebound, and he does it whether it's dirty or not," Plumlee told the Arizona Republic. "I just felt like they were being more physical than us, so I just made a point to hit him on the glass."
The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Adams and the 6-10, 254-pound Plumlee went chest to chest in the paint after banging for position. Adams put his arms underneath Plumlee's and marched him backward several steps. Once they reached the top of the key, Plumlee pushed Adams in an attempt to separate.
Adams appeared to attempt to lift Plumlee off the floor as they wrestled. Plumlee ended up on top of Adams at the bottom of a pile in front of the Suns bench as several players and Phoenix assistant coaches and staffers tried to break up the scrap.
After a brief review, Brothers announced that the combatants received double technical fouls and were ejected.
"There wasn't much," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. "Steven could do a lot more if he was really trying to wrestle. It looked like they got in a little bear hug and fell down. I thought that would maybe be a technical at best. Surprised they were ejected."
Adams received a standing ovation from Rockets fans as he went into the tunnel.
Houston went on to win 111-104.
