Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook was retroactively given a “flagrant 1” foul by the NBA league office on Tuesday for his shove of Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic during Sunday’s game in Houston.

The action was ruled a common foul on the floor. The upgrade does not carry any direct game consequences, of course, since the game is long over. However, it does count as one flagrant foul “point” for Westbrook.

NBA players earn an automatic suspension when they reach six flagrant foul points over each regular season. Naturally, a flagrant 2 foul — which also means an ejection during that game — would count as two points.

It represents the first flagrant of the 2019-20 season for Westbrook, who led the NBA in flagrant fouls last year with four.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIl4_M_6N3I

The contact didn’t appear to be malicious. In a transition sequence early in the third quarter, Westbrook sprinted to try and pick up Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who was open in the right corner. Hardaway had 19 first-half points, so reducing his open shots was a priority for Houston.

Doncic passed the ball to Hardaway, and Westbrook then pushed Doncic in the back in a desperate (and perhaps excessive) attempt to get him out of the way.

The goal was to contest Hardaway’s shot, or at least chase him off the three-point line. The push caused Doncic to stumble, however, and his momentum carried him out of bounds. A foul was immediately called.

Doncic led the Mavs (11-5) in Sunday’s victory with 41 points and 10 asssists, while Westbrook had 27 points and six assists for the Rockets (11-6) in the 137-123 loss (box score).