The Houston Rockets came out with a truly lackluster effort in the first quarter of their Wednesday night matchup against a shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans side. So much so, that Rockets head coach Stephen Silas decided to take matters into his own hands.
It was the referees who drew the ire of Silas after he watched his team give up a 45-22 lead to the Pels in the opening period. The Rockets coach clearly wasn't happy with how the refs had been officiating the game at that point, so he decided to let them know:
Rockets coach Stephen Silas was HEATED and was ejected at the end of the 1st quarter 😳
The Rockets were down 22-45 at the end of the quarter.pic.twitter.com/X5Qi2y1AqX
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 5, 2023
Silas was absolutely fuming. He seems to have been pointing out that the refs had made four bad calls already and that this was simply unacceptable. The game officials did not appreciate the outburst, and they decided to send the Rockets shot-caller back to the locker room after just 12 minutes of play.
To be fair, Stephen Silas was probably also pissed at his own team for their embarrassing display in the first quarter. I guess he just thought it would be better to let his anger out on the referees — regardless of the fact that it cost him his spot on the sidelines.
As the broadcast commentator said, it's likely that Silas also wanted to light a fire under his boys. This is a tactic that coaches often use whenever they're feeling a bit desperate. Whether or not this works out for Houston on this particular occasion remains to be seen.
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