Dennis Schroder was fined $25,000 for his low blow on P.J. Tucker during Oklahoma City's game five loss to the Houston Rockets.

Tucker was also fined $25,000 for his role in the confrontation, in which he headbutted the back of Schroder's head. 

The Rockets reportedly wanted the league to investigate Schroder's actions, and were upset that no action was taken after Chris Paul's low blow on Ben McLemore earlier in the series.

The Rockets lead the series 3-2.  

Dennis Schroder and P.J. Tucker were ejected in the third quarter of the Houston Rockets' 114-80 win over the Oklahoma City in game 5. 

The Rockets took a 3-2 lead in the series.

The incident began with Schroder hitting Tucker during what was eventually deemed an illegal screen. Tucker would then headbutt the back of Schroder's head.

Schroder was given a Flagrant 2, while Tucker was called for a dead-ball technical foul with an ejection.

NBA security questioned Tucker after the game, according to sources.

The Rockets were upset that the league did not investigate Chris Paul's shot against Ben McLemore's groin in game 3.

The team also reportedly wants the league to investigate Schroder's shot against Tucker. 

"First thing was, it was obviously an illegal screen. And it was kind of a bang-bang play. P.J. obviously after the play was over kind of head-butted Dennis, so they certainly had to eject him, and I didn't know if they felt like they needed to eject Dennis because they ejected P.J. But it was a very quick, aggressive play, and I understand with P.J. getting thrown out maybe they felt like Dennis needed to be thrown out," said Billy Donovan after the game. 

The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder players have decided to go on strike for Game 5 of their series on Wednesday to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

The decision from the Rockets and Thunder comes less than an hour after the Milwaukee Bucks decided to go on strike for their Game 5 against the Orlando Magic.

Many NBA players were concerned how they could continue to make an impact with the Black Lives Matter movement during the restart. Players have consistently tried to amplify the message.

Chris Paul noted the improvements he made in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 119-107 overtime win versus the Houston Rockets in game 3.

The Thunder are down 2-1 in the series.

"I think I needed to play with better pace. Be more aggressive. Take shots when they're there. And be better defensively. ... I gave up a lot of corner 3s, a lot of defensive assignments. Aside from the shots, I think I was a lot better defensively," said Paul of how he approached game 3.

Paul finished the game with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Bill Donovan credited the Thunder's improved spacing on pick and rolls for Paul's game.

"Chris is the master at manipulating pick-and-rolls. When we get the floor in a fashion against them that is not spaced correctly, it's hard to play in pick-and-rolls because they're switching everything. Tonight I thought we had better spacing and were able to move a little freer."

Chris Paul said that he had to step up his game following the Oklahoma City Thunder's 111-98 loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Thunder are down 2-0 in the series.

"I gotta be better. That's the tough thing, to know how hard we fought, guys worked hard. We put ourselves in position to win that game, and I gotta be better for us," said Paul after the game.

The Thunder were up 82-77 in the fourth quarter before the Rockets put together a 17-0 run. 

"That was the game right there. The guys just took it upon themselves to guard. We felt in a sense that Oklahoma City was getting tired, and we kept pressing the gas on them. That was a game-changer right there for us," said James Harden of the run.

Paul added that there was "a lot" for him to improve upon in the series.

"I'll go back and look at the film, but I know what it is. It's a lot."

Luguentz Dort suffered a knee injury in the first quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder's 116-115 win over the Miami Heat.

Dort, who did not return to the game, will get an MRI on Thursday.

"Hopefully it's not too serious and he'll be back sooner than later," said Billy Donovan after the game.

The Thunder will play the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. 

Mike Muscala sustained a concussion during Monday's game against the Denver Nuggets and he has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol.

Per the NBA’s Concussion Policy, Muscala will now begin the NBA-mandated Return-to-Participation Protocol. This process includes a series of steps designed to ensure an athlete exhibits symptom-free behavior before resuming basketball activities. There is no predetermined timetable to complete the protocol, as each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.

In 43 games this season, Muscala is averaging 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per contest.

Dennis Schroder has left the NBA's campus in Orlando to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.

"Dennis is away from the team right now with his family," Donovan said.

Schroder is averaging 18.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists this season as one of the NBA's leading Sixth Man of the Year candidates. 

"It happened this morning so he's with his family at this point and time," Donovan said. "I'll have a chance to probably talk to him and find out a little bit more, if it's not later today, tomorrow. But right now for at least this game, he'll be out. We'll probably be able to gather some more information once we get a chance to spend a little bit more time with him over the phone."

Mike Budenholzer and Billy Donovan are the 2020 recipients of the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced today.

The Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award recognizes the dedication, commitment and hard work of NBA Head Coaches and is presented annually to a Head Coach who helps guide his players to a higher level of performance on the court and shows outstanding service and dedication to the community off the court. It honors the spirit of Michael H. Goldberg, the esteemed long-time Executive Director of the NBCA, who set the standard for loyalty, integrity, love of the game, passionate representation and tireless promotion of NBA coaching. It is unique in that it is the only award voted upon by the winners’ peers, the Head Coaches of all 30 NBA teams. This year’s voting was based on games played from the start of the 2019-20 regular season through games played on March 11.

The depth of coaching excellence in the NBA is reflected in this year’s voting as 8 Head Coaches received votes. In addition to Budenholzer and Donovan, the following Coaches also received votes: Taylor Jenkins, Nate McMillan, Nick Nurse, Erik Spoelstra, Brad Stevens and Frank Vogel.