NBA says Dwight Howard shouldn’t have been ejected vs. Celtics

Dwight Howard was ejected in the third quarter of the Atlanta Hawks’ game against the Boston Celtics on Monday night, after he was hanging on the rim after a dunk.

The game began to get chippy as it progressed, and the referees assessed Howard with a second technical foul, ejecting him from the game.

Later Monday evening, the NBA sent out a release saying that Howard shouldn’t have been ejected.

From the release:

“The second technical foul called tonight on Atlanta’s Dwight Howard for hanging on the rim (4:03 remaining in the third quarter at Boston) should have been deemed non-sportsmanlike and should not have resulted in his ejection.”

Howard received his first technical foul after he shoved former Atlanta Hawk Al Horford after a hard foul. The second technical came just over five minutes later.

According to the AJC’s Chris Vivlamore, Howard said that he should have received a warning.

“That should be more of a warning,” Howard said after the game. “I did the same thing in the first half and nothing happened.”

Apparently the league agreed with Howard.