Brooklyn Nets’ Reggie Evans (30) and Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce (34) battle for a rebound in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Nets won 95-83. AP
BOSTON — Joe Johnson scored 18 points, and Andray Blatche had 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Boston Celtics 95-83 on Wednesday after Rajon Rondo was ejected for fighting.
The Celtics point guard was ejected 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 sent off the court 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.
The Washington Wizards earned its first victory after starting the season with 12 straight losses, getting 19 points from Jordan Crawford to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 84-82.
Washington survived a scoreless 6:47 in the fourth when Crawford hit on a 3-pointer with 2:06 to play, and the Wizards finally took the 84-82 lead on Emeka Okafor’s two free throws with 39.1 seconds remaining.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant matched his season high with 37 points as the Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 120-98 in James Harden’s first game back at Chesapeake Energy Arena since being traded by the Thunder before the season.
Harden scored 17 points, but was limited to 3-for-16 shooting. He had six shots blocked by the Thunder.
At Chicago, Luol Deng had 22 points and six rebounds to lead the Bulls past the Dallas Mavericks 101-78.
Five players scored at least 11 points to help the Bulls (7-7) beat the Mavericks for the fourth straight time.
Shawn Marion scored 18 points for Dallas, which shot just 35 percent to lose for the eighth time in 11 games.
Marreese Speights had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Memphis as the Grizzlies beat the Toronto Raptors 103-82 for their third straight win.
Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph finished with 17 points apiece, while Randolph added 13 rebounds and six assists.
Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points to lead the New York Knicks past the Milwaukee Bucks 102-88, and Detroit won back to back games for the first time this season after Brandon Knight and Charlie Villanueva scored 19 points each in a 117-77 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Clippers point guard Chris Paul had 23 points and 11 assists as Los Angeles welcomed Chauncey Billups back to the lineup for the first time this season with a 101-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In other games, the Atlanta Hawks edged the Charlotte Bobcats 94-91, the San Antonio Spurs downed the Orlando Magic 110-89 and the Utah Jazz defeated the New Orleans Hornets 96-84.