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Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan and Houston Rockets icon Dillon Brooks were ejected after they got involved in an on-court beef during their clash on Thursday, March 21. The match saw Houston clinching the win 127-117 over their Chicago counterparts. The ejection took place in the third quarter of the game with 6 minutes remaining on the watch when the Rockets were leading the encounter 84-75. DeRozan committed a hard foul on Jalen Green which sent him down to the court in pain.
It led to a heated brawl between the teams and players from both sides, which led to two ejections in the game. After the incident, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said, "I think there was some contact on some drives, some fouls, previous calls that were not called. Obviously, DeMar jumped off of that screen and fouled Green." DeMar finished with 16 points, and 2 assists as well as 2 rebounds. Green, on the other hand, ended the game with 26 points, 3 assists, and four rebounds.
DeRozan, Brooks involve in heated on-court scuffle
Brooks, who has over the years built a reputation as an agitator, immediately approached the Bulls’ star. DeRozan who had his back turned to him turned around and elbowed Brooks in the face which further escalated the matter and they engaged in a heated scuffle. Players from both teams tried to break it up.
After the scene Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after the incident, “I didn't love it, being that he got elbowed. He walked over and didn't say anything crazy. But they say the rules are the guy that kind of instigates it to get it to that step after DeRozan did what he did, he got [ejected] because of that."
The argument grew with the staff members and security trying to intervene along with the involvement of Torrey Craig. It led to Brooks falling to the ground after tripping over a security guard. After the fight, DeRozan’s flagrant 1 foul was ruled to be a flagrant 2 foul and he received an ejection. Brooks, on the other hand, received a technical foul and got ejected.
Unlike his past on-court fights, videos suggest that Brooks wasn’t involved in the last night fight, and was prompted to hit back in his defense.
