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Houston Rockets wing Dillon Brooks has been suspended for one game without pay after picking up his 16th technical foul of the season, the NBA announced Thursday. Brooks earned the technical for kicking Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton in the groin during the Rockets' 143-105 win on Wednesday. He will miss their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.

In the first quarter against Utah, Brooks posted Sexton up on the block and attempted a turnaround jumper. Sexton knocked the ball away, and Brooks flailed his limbs in a theatrical manner, seemingly trying to draw a foul. He did not succeed, but he managed to both kick the ball and kick Sexton.

The result was a double whammy: a turnover for the kicked ball violation and a technical foul for the unnecessary contact to Sexton. 

Brooks is never hesitant to voice his opinion to the officials or mix it up with opposing players -- he was ejected from Houston's win over the Phoenix Suns a few days ago after a scuffle with Kevin Durant -- and is regularly among the league leaders in technicals. In fact, he's reached double figures in that category in five consecutive seasons, with a career-high 18 in 2023.

Under NBA rules, once a player reaches 16 technical fouls during the regular season, an automatic one-game suspension is triggered. Players who reach this threshold face an additional one-game suspension for every two technicals after that. 

After the game, Rockets coach Ime Udoka said he didn't think the kick to the groin was intentional and Brooks implied that he thought the technical foul would be rescinded.

"Usually, those things are [considered] flagrants, and I guess [referee Tony Brothers] misspoke," Brooks told reporters. "I'll be ready to play on Friday."

Rockets clinch first playoff spot since 2020

Houston will miss Brooks against the Western Conference-leading Thunder. For all his antics, he remains one of the toughest perimeter defenders in the league, and OKC's offense would be difficult to stop even if he were in the lineup.

The good news for the Rockets: They're in pretty good shape in terms of playoff seeding. With Wednesday's win, they have officially clinched a top-six spot in the Western Conference, so they'll be heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. 

At 50-27, Houston has a three-game lead over the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 2 seed. While there is still one game to play between the teams that will determine the tiebreaker, that's a sizable advantage with less than two weeks left in the regular season.