Technicals, ejections in Brooklyn-Boston battle

JOE JOHNSON scored 18 points, Andray Blatche had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and the visiting Brooklyn Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 95-83, on Wednesday after Rajon Rondo was ejected following a fight.

The Celtics point guard was tossed after he shoved Kris Humphries to retaliate for the Nets forward's hard foul against Kevin Garnett. Humphries and Brooklyn forward Gerald Wallace were also ejected for their roles in the second-quarter skirmish.

Garnett had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Paul Pierce added 14 points for Boston. Rondo had three assists before he was kicked out, ending his streak at 37 games with double-digits. That is tied for second-longest in NBA history.

The Nets led by 21 in the second half and never less than nine in the fourth quarter.

Brooklyn won for the ninth time in 11 games while snapping Boston's two-game win streak.

The Nets led by eight after one quarter and scored 19 of the first 25 points in the second to make it 47-26. Boston cut the deficit to 14 points and trailed by 16 when Garnett took an off-balance jumper from the right baseline and Humphries leveraged him to the floor with his left arm.

Rondo trailed the play with a two-handed shove that sent Humphries into the courtside seats, and Wallace soon entered the fray by shoving Garnett. While the rest of the players remained by their benches, coaches and officials tried to break up the skirmish.

The referees went to the scorer's table to watch the incident on replay, and their verdict was announced over the public address system: Two technical fouls for Humphries, one for Wallace - his second of the game, ending his night - and one for Garnett.

Rondo was simply ejected.

When the free throws were done, Boston trailed 51-38, and that's the way it went into the half.

At Orlando, Manu Ginobili had 20 points, Gary Neal scored 19 and the San Antonio Spurs earned their fifth straight win, racing past the Magic, 110-89.

* At Washington, the Wizards earned their first victory after starting the season with 12 straight losses, getting 19 points from Jordan Crawford in an 84-82 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

* At Atlanta, Al Horford scored 17 points and hit two clinching free throws to help the Hawks win their sixth straight game with a 94-91 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

* At Auburn Hills, Brandon Knight and Charlie Villanueva scored 19 points apiece, and the Detroit Pistons routed the Phoenix Suns, 117-77.

* At Chicago, Luol Deng scored 22 points and Joakim Noah had 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulls rolled over the Dallas Mavericks, 101-78.

* At Memphis, Marreese Speights had 18 points and 12 rebounds to help the Grizzlies to their third straight win, a 103-82 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

* At New Orleans, Al Jefferson had 19 points, Marvin Williams scored 16 before leaving with concussion symptoms and the Utah Jazz won its second straight game, 96-84 over the Hornets. * At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant matched his season high with 37 points, and the Thunder beat the Houston Rockets, 120-98, in James Harden's first game back in Chesapeake Energy Arena since being traded. Harden scored 17 points, but was limited to 3-for-16 shooting. He had six shots blocked by the Thunder.

* At Milwaukee, Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 102-88 victory over the Bucks. Anthony, who sat out the fourth quarter, was 9-for-18 from the floor and also grabbed eight rebounds in 30 minutes. Jason Kidd missed his second game in a row for New York with lower back spasms.

Chauncey Billups was set to return to the court for the Clippers after being sidelined for more than 9 months because of a torn Achilles' tendon.

* Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio got the green light from doctors for full-contact practices as he continues to recover from torn knee ligaments.