Rockets love bruising style of Game 2 win over Warriors

HOUSTON — When Ime Udoka was asked if he enjoys when games get physical like they have in the first two editions of the Houston Rockets-Golden State Warrior series, he didn't flinch. "You know I don't mind it," the intense Houston Rockets coach said. His young forward Tari Eason, who received one of the six technical fouls called in the wrestling match that was the Rockets' 109-94 Game 2 win over the Warriors on Wednesday night, agreed, calling himself and his teammates "a gritty and grimy team.

" The Rockets championship banners, earned when the NBA was overly physical, must have liked what they saw from the action below their perch in the Toyota Center rafters. For at least two nights, the Rockets and Warriors partied like it was the 1990s. "That's who we are," Udoka said.



"That's our identity for the most part. At the start of the playoffs, we didn't have to flip the switch, try to get tougher, try to get more aggressive, that's kind of what we've built everything on. So, that carries over to the playoffs and we understand that.

If they let us play, both teams, it's in our favor for the most part, Golden State as well. It's physical. You have to play through it.

You can't expect it on one end and cry about it on the other end." The Warriors' Draymond Green, who received a technical foul for yelling at an official and was on the receiving end of a flagrant foul when the Rockets' Jalen Green delivered a forearm to his face, said he thought Game 1 of the series, which the Warriors won 95-85 was even more physical than the latest edition of the series, even though this one started with Warriors star Jimmy Butler leaving with a pelvic contusion. "Actually, I might agree with that," Golden State's Steph Curry said.

"There were just like a couple crashes that happened out there. We know what their MO is and what they're trying to do: Using their size and athleticism and size advantage at times and try to bully us." While Curry was talking about bullying, the Rockets were pontificating about not falling into the traps laid by the veteran team that has won four of the last 10 NBA titles.

Multiple times Draymond Green and his teammates had crashes with Rockets players, drawing a couple technical fouls when Eason reacted by throwing a towel at the Warriors and Amen Thompson tried to get payback on Pat Spencer for bumping him to the ground a possession earlier. "You watch the film, they're going to do that and I'm just ready for it," Rockets center Alperen Şengün said. "It's playoff time now and they're going to grab me, so we do the same thing, there's just no complaining out there.

We're just going to go out there and play. Hopefully nobody gets hurt. You just have to play hard and physical.

" Things seemed to get the most heated during a moment when there actually was very little physicality. As the teams were heading to their benches for a timeout after a Jalen Green layup put the Rockets up 99-80, Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet got into a discussion with Draymond Green. As the conversation appeared to grow in intensity, players from both sides converged to create a bit of a mob.

However, not much happened as evidenced by Draymond Green not getting a technical foul, with him saying, "You know nothing happened if I didn't get a tech. If anything happened, I would have gotten a technical, but nothing. We were just standing there talking.

" In the end, the only thing that happened was Eason throwing his towel in the direction of his opponents, which didn't please even the coach who lives for intense moments on a basketball court. "You understand why, it's kind of a last resort for teams," Udoka said of the incident. "You have to keep your composure at that point and just stay calm.

" Dillon Brooks, who is known as the Rockets' instigator, recognized the Warriors' late-game tactics and is hoping his teammates will learn not to react. "As you can see, we reacted to it, but you know, overall, our message is not to react," Brooks said. "Keep playing physical, let them do the nonsense, the antics and what not, and we play our brand of basketball and that will bring it out.

" Sharing a postgame podium with the Rockets' towel-thrower, Jalen Green reacted to a question about it, telling Eason incredulously, "I didn't even see you throw the towel." "I'd say my emotions just got the best of me," Eason said. "In between the lines, you've got to keep it basketball.

That's really all it is. I'm just going to be better for my team moving forward and control my emotions. I know with them, some of the guys they have over there, their thing is to kind of beat you mentally and if you know basketball, you know basketball is 90% mental.

I've just got to stay even-keeled and move on." It's a lesson VanVleet, who beat the Warriors for a title as a member of the Toronto Raptors in 2019, has been trying to impart all season: Be the tough guy, but also be the smart guy. "I think we've been one of the more physical teams all year.

It's one of our things that we built as a foundation and we feel comfortable in those environments," VanVleet said. "It's going to come down to execution and the smarter team's going to win this series. I know there's going to be a lot made about all the extras, but that's for the fans to get excited about.

For us, we've got to stay locked in and try to execute.".