It might just be the NBA preseason, but there was still some serious intensity on Tuesday night between the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans.
A scuffle, which included a punch thrown by Rockets star Amen Thompson, resulted in a huge mass of bodies that needed to be calmed down.
The NBA regular season is a week away, but Thompson didn’t take kindly to the way Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado was in his space.
As Thompson turned to run up the floor, Alvarado essentially hung right onto him.
Thompson appeared to push Alvarado out of the way, and the two went to the ground in the process.
On the ground, Thompson evidently didn’t like the situation, and he swung a big right hand toward Alvarado.
That prompted a full-on rush toward the pair, and a lot of players ended up wrapped up with one another as they feuded.
Here’s a video of what happened:
AMEN THOMPSON THREW A PUNCH AT JOSE ALVARADO šæ pic.twitter.com/Vx6MgeiiTl
ā Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) October 15, 2025
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It’s not yet clear what might happen to Thompson after this.Ā
The Rockets have one more preseason game, on Thursday.
They then play the season’s opening night game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 21. It’d certainly stink if Thompson was somehow unavailable for that because of possible league punishment.
Houston will be staying tuned to see what comes out of this.
