It might be the NBA preseason, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some intense action.

And Tuesday night’s Rockets-Pelicans game provided a bit of early fireworks.

During the second quarter at Legacy Arena at BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama, Houston’s Amen Thompson and New Orleans’ Jose Alvarado got into a heated tussle that resulted in fouls against both players.

The fracas ensued after the Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr. took and missed a three from 26 feet out, bouncing off the rim and into the hands of the Pelicans.

While all that was going down, Thompson and Alvarado got physical as Thompson appeared to be blocked off from getting the rebound by Alvarado.

The two then fell to the court as they got physical down to the floor. And when they got back up, Thompson went back to shove Alvarado as tensions escalated before the two players were separated.

When all was said and done, Thompson received a flagrant 1 while Alvarado was given a technical.

Thompson finished the night with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists as the Rockets won, 130-128. Alvarado scored eight with three rebounds.

The two teams will meet in the regular season on Dec. 18, so it will be interesting to see if there’s any spillover from this moment.