Fred VanVleet Ejection Explained by NBA Crew Chief amid Viral Video from Rockets Loss

Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet was issued a technical foul and ejected in the final seconds of Saturday's 104-98 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and then pointed his finger in the official's face as he left the court.

VanVleet was called for an offensive foul on an inbounds pass before he expressed his frustration.

Crew Chief Courtney Kirkland told the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen in a pool report interview that VanVleet was "ejected on one technical foul for his vulgar language and pointing at all three officials."

The pool report also included the following exchange:

"QUESTION: In the last minute, there was no call on the attempted 3-point field goal right before the technical foul. What was the ruling there where that contact didn't constitute a foul?

"KIRKLAND: In live action, we felt that the defender stayed directly on the path of VanVleet during his attempted motion toward the basket. After video review, we see the defender did close space and did make contact with the hip of VanVleet and a foul should have been called. However, shots would not have been awarded on the play."

It was the end of a disappointing night for VanVleet, who went 4-of-13 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range with just eight points in the loss. He was the only member of Houston's starting lineup who did not score in double figures.

On the other side, the Trail Blazers had three starters score at least 22 points with Anfernee Simons leading the way with 25 points. Shaedon Sharpe added 24, while Jerami Grant finished with 22.

The loss ended a two-game winning streak for VanVleet and the Rockets, although they are still an impressive 12-6 on the campaign. They ended up splitting back-to-back home games against Portland on Friday and Saturday and will not face the team again until a Jan. 18 road matchup.

Next up for the Rockets is a two-game road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday and Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.