The Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics added more intensity to their battle as the game got extremely physical before halftime Wednesday night.
When first watching the ejected players leave the court, I wondered why Kevin Garnett had remained in the game.
However, he was rightfully given a technical foul, something viewers with a muted television would not have heard as the broadcast focused their sound on the arena's announcer.
The referees definitely got it right.
Paul Pierce looks like he was getting in on the action, but in reality, he was chasing after the uncontrollable Rajon Rondo who had gone berserk.
Pierce was not punished despite knocking down a security guard and following the chase as he was trying to get Rondo off Humphries.
All I got from this brawl was that Rondo is still not the mature player the Celtics have been looking for.
We saw him lose his cool in last year's playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks and bump into a referee which was cause for an automatic one-game suspension.
The playoffs were not the right time for these actions and because of his ejection on Wednesday night, his consecutive double-digit assist streak was snapped. Rondo finished the night with six assists and his team lost as they tried to make a serge late in the game.
Rondo has to drop the hothead facade and start becoming a leader in the Celtics' clubhouse. Garnett and Pierce will be long gone and Rondo will have the team all to himself in a few years.
If Garnett would have been upset enough to get back at Humphries then he would have done. There is no bigger bully in the NBA than Kevin Garnett.
Yes, it could be said that Rondo was looking out for his teammates, but this isn't street basketball. There's no reason to take it to the next level and have your actions grant you an ejection from a game.
Despite my distaste for the way things went down on Wednesday night, the anticipation for their Christmas Day matchup is high and this adds another chapter to a game that was already interesting.
The Nets look to be a competitive team in the NBA now and the Celtics have to either play good basketball or remain at the bottom of the division.
Brooklyn is tied for first with the New York Knicks at 10-4. Meanwhile the 8-7 Celtics are fourth in the Atlantic.
