NBA preseason is a time for teams to re-integrate new pieces, for players to jell with one another , and for everyone to get up to game speed. This is not the time to let emotions run high, considering how, in the grand scheme of the 2025-26 season, these games carry so little meaning. But don't tell that to Amen Thompson and Jose Alvarado , as they nearly engaged in an all-out brawl in the second quarter of the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans ' preseason clash on Tuesday.

With 5:39 remaining in the second period, Jabari Smith Jr. hoisted a three-pointer and clanked it off the front rim. When the ball went up in the air, Thompson and Alvarado got entangled with one another while jockeying for rebounding position.

The Pelicans guard was doing his best to box the Rocket

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