After the game, Sura claimed Snyder used a racist comment in the February contest, which Utah won 99-92.

"It was a bush-league play. You don't do that stuff in this league," Sura said of Snyder's actions on Monday. "Our last game, he made a racist comment to one of our players. I'm not a fan."

Told of Sura's comments, Snyder denied making any such comment.

He couldn't deny his actions on Monday, as everyone in the Delta Center watched him make a driving layup in the third quarter, then continue running to the Houston bench where he stopped and gestured.

Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy quickly jumped up and went out on the floor and was called for a technical. The technical free throw, plus one made by Snyder for getting fouled on the layup, cut Houston's lead to 68-66.

But that was it for Snyder's gloating, and Utah's comeback, as coach Jerry Sloan yanked him and chewed him out on the bench.

"He's not Michael Jordan," said Sloan, who for a brief moment thought he might spend his birthday breaking up a brawl. "Michael was good enough where he might be able to say something, but I don't see that in Kirk just yet."

For his part, Snyder said his excitement simply overtook him.

"I was right in front of their coach. I was in bad territory. I wasn't supposed to be over there," Snyder said. "I was trying to compete and got caught up in the momentum. That isn't supposed to happen."

Snyder is one of the more demonstrative players on the Jazz roster, whether it's a little showboating after a dunk or giving an opponent a lingering stare as they run down the court.

Sloan has little tolerance for such actions, especially after the bench-clearing brawl between Indiana and Detroit this season.

After taking Snyder out of the game and giving him an earful, Sloan waved in the direction of the Houston bench, letting the Rockets know Snyder was dealt with.

"Their coaches were upset and their players were upset, and rightfully so," Sloan said. "The most important thing is to not try and embarrass the other team, and we're lucky something else didn't happen."

Snyder said he had no intention of becoming one of the league's bad boys.

"I want to have a reputation for just playing hard," he said. "It was something that happened, it was unfortunate we lost, and we'll move on."

Van Gundy said the incident wasn't worth talking about, but the players were still upset about it afterward.

"It was a little disrespectful on his part," said Houston's Tracy McGrady, who disrespected Utah's defense, trashing it for 44 points. "They did a great job of playing hard and getting themselves back into the game. I just thought it was a little too disrespectful, a little too uncalled for, for him to jump into somebody's face on our bench."

Tribune reporter Steve Luhm contributed to this article.