A wrestling match on the court during Wednesday night’s game between the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns resulted in two ejections and one bloodied player.
Houston’s Steven Adams and Phoenix’s Mason Plumlee were both given double technicals and ejected late in the second quarter after physical play under the net resulted in the players wrestling each other to the ground.
Houston Rockets center Steven Adams walks off the court after being ejected during the Phoenix Suns game at Toyota Center on March 12, 2025. (Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)
“We just got tied up,” Plumlee said of the incident after the game. “He had been going to the boards and doing what he does, so just met him with physicality and, yeah, you all saw it.”
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With around three minutes remaining in the half, both NBA players were jostling for a rebound when Adams and Plumlee locked arms. The jostling continued and Adams appeared to lift Plumlee up off the court and to the ground.
The scuffle continued on the ground with both players being separated by a mix of coaches, teammates and officials.
“Look, everybody will see the clip that happened, but like he goes for every rebound and he does it whether it’s dirty or not,” Plumlee added. “I just felt like they were being more physical than us, so I just made a point to hit him on the glass.”
Mason Plumlee of the Phoenix Suns and Steven Adams of the Houston Rockets engage in a scuffle at the Toyota Center on March 12, 2025, in Houston, Texas. (Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
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Plumlee left the court with a bleeding cut above his eyebrow, but he said it was “nothing major.”
Houston coach Ime Udoka said he was surprised by the decision to eject both players.
“It looked like they threw each other down,” he said. “They both fell down and whatever, got in a little wrestling match. I didn’t think they would get ejected for that.”
Phoenix Suns center Mason Plumlee and Houston Rockets center Steven Adams on the floor of the Toyota Center on March 12, 2025. (Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)
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Suns coach Mike Budenholzer seemingly agreed.
“It’s just two guys getting tangled up,” he said. “Both physical. Both contenders.”
Houston’s Jalen Green had 29 points to lead the Rockets to a 111-104 victory over Phoenix, extending the team’s winning streak to four.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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