Nikola Jokic liked what he saw from his new coach Saturday.

With 8:40 left in the fourth quarter, David Adelman had seen enough after Jokic spent an extended stretch of the third quarter on the bench with four fouls. Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. swiped at Jokic a couple of times without being whistled early in the fourth, and Adelman stormed onto the court to confront official Tyler Ricks, who promptly ejected the Nuggets coach.

“It’s good to see him pumped up a little bit,” Jokic said. “I’m thankful he was on my side.”

It was the first time Adelman, who picked up his first technical foul late in the opening quarter, was ejected in his short time as an NBA head coach.

“Honestly, I was confused. So, I was just looking for answers. I went out there to find them, and it turns out I had to leave,” Adelman said with a smile. “Sometimes confusion can lead to destructive things, right? You’ve got to think things through yourself sometimes. You go to other people, and sometimes they just don’t want to hear you.”

Jamal Murray encouraged the home crowd to cheer as Adelman walked off. All three fouls in the first quarter were called on the Nuggets, with Jokic being whistled twice, and the first two fouls of the second quarter also went against Denver. At the end, both teams were called for 20 fouls and shot 23 free throws.

Houston coach Ime Udoka took exception to the officiating after Monday’s game in Denver when the Nuggets shot 33 free throws to the Rockets’ 26. Udoka said two of the three officials didn’t belong on the court and accused crew chief Zach Zarba of being “star-struck.” The NBA levied a $25,000 fine on the Rockets coach later in the week.

“It felt like a reactive game to earlier in the week,” Adelman said. “That’s what it felt like to me. It felt like they had one foul with five minutes to go in the second quarter. I just felt like both teams were playing so hard, extremely hard, physical.”

Jokic has said he’s trying to spend less time talking with the officials this season. He struggled with that mission at times on Saturday, as did his coach.

“It’s good to know that he’s still on my side,” Jokic said.