The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 106-96 at Chase Center on Sunday in a game in which tempers flared on more than one occasion. Even Stephen Curry got into a heated exchange with Rockets head coach Ime Udoka at the end of the second quarter, and the guard was asked about the interaction postgame.
“He made a reservation at International Smoke, and then he canceled it,” Curry said. “And so I was kind of upset with him. We went back and forth on that.”
That was hilarious. International Smoke is a restaurant in San Francisco that is co-owned by Curry’s wife, Ayesha, and Chef Michael Mina. The 11-time All-Star’s response left everyone in stitches, with Draymond Green jokingly calling him out for promoting the restaurant in his press conference.
As for the topic at hand, Curry clearly wasn’t interested in talking about his exchange with Udoka. Here is the incident in case you missed it.
Steph Curry and Ime Ukoda going at it👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ny2yCY5QVr
— terry (@terryworst) April 7, 2025
It’s not often that you see Curry jawing with the opposition, especially a coach. As for what Udoka had to say about this postgame, he called it friendly banter.
“I was talking to my team about the physicality,” Udoka said. “This is the type of game we like. This is who we are. He said something. I said something. Nothing, a little friendly banter.”
Udoka has now accomplished something that not many coaches have: going back and forth with Curry and LeBron James on the court. Back in 2023, Udoka and James got into a heated altercation during a game between the Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets’ head coach is a fiery character, to say the least.
Udoka ended up on the losing side against James that day, but he got the last laugh against Curry. Not only did the Rockets win, but they completely shut down the two-time MVP.
Curry finished with three points (1-10 FG), two rebounds, and eight assists against the Rockets as the Warriors dropped to 46-32. You thought Udoka might have poked the bear with this exchange, but the 37-year-old went scoreless in the second half.
It was a terrible performance, but the Rockets deserve credit for how well they were defending Curry. Amen Thompson was the standout on that end of the floor, and Udoka sang his praises postgame.
“Obviously he [Curry] had been on a heater lately, and so we wanted to obviously pay him a little bit more attention,” Udoka said. “When you got a special guy like Amen Thompson doing what he does, that’s the result.”
While Udoka loved how his team defended against Curry, the Warriors certainly didn’t. Jimmy Butler was fuming postgame as he felt that the guard was being fouled. Butler stated he hasn’t seen a player get fouled as often as Curry does and is frustrated that he doesn’t get calls.
Curry didn’t shoot a single free throw against the Rockets, which was surprising, considering how physical the Rockets were being. When informed about Butler’s comments postgame, the 37-year-old stated he never expects to get calls.
“I don’t know how to answer that question,” Curry stated. “Been around 16 years, you’ve seen it all. I don’t ever expect to get calls. I don’t ever go in looking for it. Just trying to play basketball, try to play the way I do every night, battle through physicality, whatever. If I need to say something, say something. But I don’t have any expectations.”
Curry is averaging just 4.3 free throws per game this season. His teammates reckon the number should be higher, but he isn’t thinking too much about it.
Curry will be in action next against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center on Tuesday at 10 PM ET. He isn’t going to be facing much resistance in that contest, as the Suns are one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA. Expect Curry to put on a show there.
