There’s no such thing as a heated, physical game without the banter.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka and Warriors guard Steph Curry’s intense exchange in Golden State’s 106-96 streak-snapping loss to Houston on Sunday at Chase Center was proof of that.
Steph Curry and Rockets coach Ime Udoka exchanged words at the end of the second quarter 👀
— Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area (@nbcswarriors.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T04:51:06.878Z
As both teams made their way to their respective locker rooms at halftime, Udoka and the four-time NBA champion shared a few words.
In a joking manner, according to Curry, the motive behind the verbal exchange was a canceled reservation at his wife Ayesha Curry’s International Smoke restaurant.
“He made a reservation at International Smoke, and he canceled it,” Curry quipped to reporters after the game. “And so I was kind of upset with him. We went back and forth on that.”
Jokes aside, for Udoka, it was just in-game banter.
“He said something,” Udoka told reporters after Houston’s win. “I said something. A little friendly banter.”
The verbal exchange came after a fierce second quarter that saw Warriors forward Draymond Green and Rockets center Alperen Şengün clash. The physical altercation resulted in a technical foul for Green.
Draymond received a tech for this sequence 😬 pic.twitter.com/PT1ytcTv80
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 7, 2025
“I was talking to my team about the physicality,” Udoka added. “This is the type of game we like. This is who we are.”
In the third quarter, Green and Şengün picked up where they left off.
Green was given a Flagrant 1 foul for making contact with Şengün as he drove in for a layup, making the foul the forward’s third Flagrant of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Draymond received a flagrant 1 for this controversial play pic.twitter.com/6r8SG0URbF
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 7, 2025
Even if the canceled reservation at International Smoke happens to be true, there was plenty to get feisty about at Chase Center on Sunday night.
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