Dudley explains crucial uncalled foul against Harden: 'He flops so much'

Tempers flared during Saturday's barn-burner between the Wizards and Rockets.

Both Nene and Dwight Howard were ejected after exchanging a series of increasingly violent elbows, but despite their dismissals, the rough play continued right down to the wire.

The Rockets had the ball down one for the final possession, and naturally, they put the ball in the hands of James Harden, who had 40 points when it was all said and done. Harden drove to the hoop against a double-team into even more defenders at the hoop and would eventually miss a difficult layup to seal the win for Washington.

That play, however, wasn't without controversy. As Wizards forward Jared Dudley - who was part of the double on Harden - explained to J. Michael of CSN Washington, Harden was pushed on the play.

"If you look at that I pushed him right in his back. You kidding me, with my right hand," Dudley said.

And why didn't Harden, the league leader in free-throw attempts, get the call?

"He flops so much (it backfired)," Dudley quipped.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Dudley also hit the game-winning basket. Harden lost Dudley on an out-of-bounds play and Dudley glided unimpeded to the hoop for a layup to push the Wizards to 123 points on the night.

Saturday's heartbreaker marked Houston's third-straight loss, dropping them back to .500 on what's been a hugely disappointing year for the Rockets.