Ime Udoka balances intensity, patience as Rockets hope to stage historic comeback

LOS ANGELES — As anyone who has sat courtside at a Houston Rockets game knows, Ime Udoka tends to hurl insults in the heat of a basketball battle as if he’s Eddie Murphy on the “Raw” stage.At his players. The refs. The opponent. No one is safe.The 48-year-old Houston Rockets coach is as intense, direct and confrontational as they come in the Association, and his rivals often wonder why he doesn’t face tougher consequences for having the sideline style of an MMA fighter at his own pre-bout press conference. But we saw a different side of Udoka in that pressure-packed final minute of Game 5 against the Lakers on Wednesday night, when everyone in the building was wondering if these young Rockets would blow the late lead again like they had two games before and, perhaps, spark an offseason reckoning for all involved in the process.Advertisement