Watch: Villanueva, Westbrook ejected in seperate incidents during OKC’s win
Mavericks forward Charlie Villanueva was ejected during the second quarter of Wednesday night’s 108–89 loss against the Thunder after an on-court altercation involving several players.
Villanueva appeared to grab Russell Westbrook’s throat after the Thunder point guard was fouled by J.J. Barea on a post-up shot. Westbrook and Barea engaged one another verbally, with Westbrook then bumping his chest into Barea, and Villanueva came over and reached for Westbrook’s throat.
Thunder forward Serge Ibaka then came over to physically separate Villanueva from Westbrook, and the two also engaged in some shoving and jawing. Both teams had to be separated as the scuffle moved to the baseline.
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Villanueva was given his second technical foul and ejected. Barea and Westbrook received double technicals, and Ibaka also received a technical.
His ejection left Dallas with just nine active players after head coach Rick Carlisle elected to rest his entire starting five. Westbrook was also ejected for picking up a second technical in a separate incident with Barea at 1:20 left in the first half.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 29 points while Westbrook finished with zero points, seven rebounds and eight assists before his ejection.
The All-Star guard didn’t have much to say about the scuffle and Barea following the game.
Oklahoma City improved to 28–12. Dallas fell to 22–18.