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Following his team's 128-125 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets, Ime Udoka took aim at the officials. The Houston Rockets coach had some strong words for the referees in that contest, and it cost him a pretty penny.

The NBA announced Wednesday that it fined Udoka $25,000 for "public criticism" of the officiating. That may seem like a lot, but Udoka did get his money's worth after a key loss that had a notable impact on the Western Conference standings. He certainly didn't hesitate to torch the crew of Zach Zarba (crew chief), Natalie Sago and JD Ralls.

"Just in general, I think as poorly officiated a game I've seen in a long time," Udoka said. "Two have no business being out there and the crew chief was acting star struck. So, you're seeing all kinds of inconsistent calls and I'm sure we should've gotten a few more techs."

The win kept Denver in second in the West, while the loss dropped Houston all the way to the fifth spot in the extremely competitive top of the standings. 

There were a number of calls during the game that Udoka wasn't pleased with, but the most controversial one came in the closing seconds when Amen Thompson got called for a foul after he and Tim Hardaway Jr. got their legs tangled up. Udoka challenged the call, thinking surely it'd be overturned on review for incidental contact, but Zarba upheld the foul, citing contact between Thompson's shin and Hardaway's leg that caused him to go to the ground. 

That gave Denver one free throw and the ball in a one-point game, with Jamal Murray sinking the free throw to tie the game and force overtime -- after Nikola Jokić rimmed out a game-winning 3-point attempt. In overtime, the Nuggets darted out to a quick lead and never relinquished it, with some more calls and no-calls down the stretch that frustrated the Rockets. 

After the way the game ended, Udoka wasn't in much of a mood to hold back on officiating he felt wasn't up to the level of the basketball being played. You don't often hear a coach say two refs flat out shouldn't be out there, and doing that while also calling Zarba "star struck" in the way he called the game for Jokić will certainly not sit well with the league. 

A fine is almost assuredly coming for Udoka, but he wanted to deliver a message to his team that they don't need to change the way they play because of how that game was officiated, telling the Rockets, "Keep being who we are, we're not going to adjust to poor officials."