As the Houston Rockets were looking to win their third straight game, they started poorly and led for just 11 seconds in the first frame. That’s where the problem for Ime Udoka began, as his team went behind 22 points. The references only added fuel to the frustration, as the head coach was ejected with mere seconds left in the game.

Udoka was brutally honest about the officiating issues in the Rockets’ road loss to the Bulls on Monday night. “Flagrant was soft as hell, it’s nothing. And then the techs were soft too. I’m not about to complain about a soft crew.”

With 9.1 seconds left in the 132-124 loss to the Bulls, Ime Udoka received his second technical foul for arguing with the official. The Rockets were trailing by 5 when Kevin Durant inbounded the ball and was looking to create some space by physically overpowering 209-pound Matas Buzelis. But the referee called for a push-off call, which ended the hopes for a Houston comeback.

Naturally, Udoka was furious and made sure the official heard what he had to say. The marching orders came in for the head coach, but he still wanted to speak to the referee. His two assistant coaches were on alert, and even the two security on the court side followed and kept Ime at bay. From a distance, he did speak to the official before going back to the locker room with a smirk. His speech against the officiating crew was short for a reason.

The NBA has burned Ime Udoka before. After an overtime loss to Denver in December, the head coach was blunt and straightforward in calling the game the “most poorly officiated”. The league levied a $25,000 fine for public criticism of the officiating. That’s why this time, the Rockets’ head coach was rather subdued rather than launching a direct attack. But the league could still penalize him.

Both of his technicals were for arguing with the officials. Udoka’s first technical foul came when he argued the flagrant foul call against Amen Thompson in the first quarter. Despite being unhappy about three calls, his assessment of the officials was short. But his players had to hear the rest.

Ime Udoka puts the team on notice

The inconsistency of the team continued. Four players scored in double-digits, with Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun shouldering 73 points, more than half of Houston’s offense. But the issues of the first quarter were difficult to overcome. The Rockets turned the ball over five times and missed all of their 9 shots from beyond the arc, which limited their score to only 21.

“You come out like that, you’re going to be consistent, you’re going to have bad losses. This is another one of them and we stop b———-g,” said Udoka. “Poor start, disrespected the game, not prepared from the get go. Just non-aggressive following them around, watching them shoot. You know they have nothing to lose, they’re going to fire away. Obviously, to give up 41 points in that first quarter is disappointing. It was one quarter that killed us and weren’t prepared to play at all.”

The Bulls hit seven threes in the first quarter, creating a 20-point advantage at the end of the period. This marked the Rockets’ 12th loss against teams below .500. That’s the most for any team among the top six across both conferences. Ime Udoka rightly focused his energy on calling out his players rather than directing it at the refs.