Pat Spencer was ejected from Wednesday’s game for pulling a Zinedine Zidane.
The Golden State Warriors guard Spencer got some extended run during Game 5 of his team’s first-round playoff series at Toyota Center in Houston, Tex. Warriors coach Steve Kerr made the drastic decision to pull his starters midway through the third quarter and let the second unit finish out the game. Thus, Spencer was able to get 14 minutes off the bench, scoring 11 points.
But the cameo came to an abrupt end in the fourth quarter when Spencer was ejected for a headbutt. On a battle for a loose ball underneath the basket, Spencer hit Houston’s Dillon Brooks with a hard foul. As a result, Rockets big man Alperen Sengun went over to confront Spencer, and Spencer hit him with the light headbutt. Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis also arrived in the mix and shoved Sengun.
Here is the video of the incident.
A closer angle of just the headbutt can be seen below.
Upon review by the officials, Sengun and Jackson-Davis were given offsetting technical fouls and Spencer was ejected. Therefore, the sequence netted one technical foul shot for the Rockets (which Fred VanVleet then made).
Game 5 ultimately ended up as a 131-116 victory for the Rockets over the Warriors. But the two teams have already had multiple heated scuffles over the course of the series. Spencer himself was also at the center of an incident in Game 2 last week during which he was hit with a towel thrown by Rockets forward Tari Eason.
