The Kings played the Houston Rockets for the second time in three nights at Golden 1 Center, and in the rematch Friday night, bad blood boiled over, resulting in four ejections.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter of the Kings' eventual 139-114 win, Malik Monk and Rockets guard Garrison Mathews chased down a loose ball in the backcourt. There was contact and Mathews was called for a foul. After he gathered the ball and started to look at the referee, Monk came up from behind him and knocked the ball out of his hands.
Monk and Mathews got into it, leading to a scuffle between players on the court near the Rockets' bench.
After the dust settled, Monk, Mathews and Kings center Chimezie Metu were assessed technical fouls, but the referees reviewed for further punishment.
Upon review, Monk, Mathews, Metu and Rockets forward Tari Eason, who came off the bench during the scrum, were ejected from the game.
The bad blood carried over from the Kings' win over the Rockets on Wednesday when Mathews was hit with a Flagrant Foul Penalty 1 for a hard foul on Sacramento rookie Keegan Murray.
Cooler heads managed to prevail Friday night before punches were thrown or anybody was seriously hurt, but the bad news is that the Kings and Rockets will do this all over again in less than a month when they play twice in a three-day span in Houston on Feb. 6 and Feb. 8.
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Based on how things transpired on this night, don't expect the bad blood to have simmered down.