Warriors superstar Steph Curry and Rockets head coach Ime Udoka engaged in a back-and-forth altercation in yesterday’s game.
The Golden State Warriors were on a five-game winning streak where Steph Curry led all scorers with 32.2 points per game. That meant the Houston Rockets had to answer back with points of their own. But head coach Ime Udoka had other plans.
From the start of the game, Udoka’s players hounded, trapped, and double-teamed Curry. They used their athleticism and physicality to torment the Warriors first and best scoring option. The result, he could not impact the game like he did in the past two months and scored just three points.
Usually when a star player faces such a situation, their teammates are supposed to come in to help. But the Rockets used their athleticism to quickly close down passing lanes, further frustrating the all-time leader in three points made. The situation started to frustrate Curry, and the usually quiet superstar started to talk.
It reached a boiling point where he was calling out referees for ignoring fouls. When Ime Udoka noticed this, he started talking with the Warriors superstar, leading to a terse back-and-forth. When the Rockets HC was asked about this in the post-game media sessions, he said.
When people start complaining about foul calls or crying about physicality, you’ve done your job. That’s the first step in winning the battle. So, I told my team, when this team starts crying about it, up the intensity, up the aggressiveness, and make the refs adjust to you.
Ime Udoka said
The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Sam Amick believe Ime Udoka wanted all the smoke. He took the chance to push the Golden State Warriors over the edge, and it started with their most important superstar. The Rockets went on to win the game 106-96, much to the frustrations of the home team.
Draymond Green believes referees ignore Steph Curry
Steph Curry usually goes about his business shooting the basketball and cutting across the court to confuse defenses. He is not the one to talk on the court, which means he does not get into it with referees like his teammate Draymond Green. That is where Green believes the problem lies.
He don’t talk to the referees, he gets penalized for that. I also think he gets penalized because he is not a flopper. We reward flopping and flailing, and Steph does neither.
Draymond Green said
The defensive player of the year frontrunner believes referees do not look at Steph Curry because he does not flop or sell fouls. He concentrates on scoring and hence does not look for other ways to score. But that hurts the team sometimes because officials are supposed to look at all plays.
"We reward flopping and flailing and Steph does neither"@Money23Green & @BaronDavis break down why Steph doesn't get the same whistle as other NBA superstars pic.twitter.com/ytBKGT7EZH
— The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis (@DraymondShow) April 8, 2025
Draymond Green believes if the officials had observed how the Houston Rockets roughed Curry up, they would have blown the whistle quite a few times. The lack of it is what Green believes lost them the game. Had Curry received some free throws, the Rockets would have eased off.
Steph Curry joked about his altercation with Ime Udoka
Ime Udoka did not reveal what he and Steph Curry said to each other during their altercation. Instead, he revealed why he went down that path, something he is used to doing to other superstars. On the other hand, the Golden State Warriors superstar joked about it.
He made a reservation to International Smoke and then he canceled it and so I was kinda upset with him.
Steph Curry said
Steph Curry on the back-and-forth with Rockets HC Ime Udoka at halftime:
“He made a reservation to International Smoke and then he canceled it and so I was kinda upset with him."
Then Draymond and Steph completely broke character at the podium 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/OeWt9UTYSG
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 7, 2025