Celtics' Rondo, Nets' Humphries ejected after shoving match carries into stands

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By Ben Golliver

Members of the Celtics and Nets got into a shoving match that carried into the baseline seats in the second quarter of Wednesday night's game at TD Garden. Celtics guard Rajon Rondo shoved Nets forward Kris Humphries after he fouled Celtics forward Kevin Garnett in the neck area on a driving shot attempt. Rondo shoved Humphries in the chest with both arms. Humphries shoved back, and then Celtics guard Jason Terry joined the fray, as did Nets forward Gerald Wallace. From there, the pile spilled into the seats, where shoving between multiple members of both teams continued.

Rondo, Humphries, and Wallace were all ejected as a result of the skirmish. Garnett was assessed a technical foul.

Nets forward Kris Humphries posted this picture of his scratched arm to Twitter. (@KrisHumphries)

Rondo departed with six points, three assists and two steals in 18 minutes. Humphries left with three points, four rebounds and two blocks in 13 minutes. Wallace exited with five points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals in 18 minutes.

One bit of history involved here: Rondo's ejection brought an end to his streak of 37 consecutive games registering 10 or more assists. That streak dated back to a Mar. 11 loss to the Lakers and covered the last 24 games of the 2011-12 season plus Boston's first 13 games of this season. Rondo's streak was tied with Jazz guard John Stockton for the second-longest in NBA history. Lakers great Magic Johnson holds the record with 46 straight games during the 1983-84 season.

The Nets were leading 51-35 when the incident broke out and went on to win 95-83. It's certainly possible that further fines and/or suspensions could result from the incident. Rondo, in particular, needs to be concerned, given his past history of ejections, including an incident involving a referee during a 2012 Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Hawks.

Both Rondo and Humphries left TD Garden without speaking to reporters. However, Humphries uploaded a photo of his badly scratched left arm to his Twitter account after the game. He also included a question for his followers: "Anyone know where I can quick get a Tetnis [sic] shot in Boston?"

CSNNE.com reported that Terry had some harsh words for Humphries during his own post-game interview.