Despite Dwight Howard’s ejection, Atlanta Hawks top Boston Celtics

BOSTON — Dwight Howard wasn’t around for the final 16 minutes of the Atlanta Hawks’ Monday game against the Boston Celtics, even though he rightfully should have been on the floor.

The big man’s teammates did quite well without him.

“Despite me getting kicked out, I think guys really stepped up and played great,” Howard said after Atlanta blew the game open in the second half and ended a three-game losing streak with a 114-98 blowout of the Boston Celtics.

Howard, who scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 27 minutes, was tossed for two third-quarter technical fouls in the second straight scrappy game between the teams.

Late Monday night, the NBA issued a press release that said: “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.”

The first technical was for shoving Al Horford. Atlanta led 74-65 when he left, but the Hawks (33-26) were in the midst of a 24-10 run that broke it open as the Celtics lost for the third time in the last four games.

“I thought they gathered themselves and decided we needed to keep this thing going,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said of his players. “I think Dwight got us to that point. He was a huge part of getting the 10-point lead. I think we just wanted to bring it home for him and for all of us.”

Howard added, “It was a good team win. I apologized to the guys and told them I need to do a better job of keeping my composure and some other things, and they understood.”

The Hawks, who knocked the Celtics out of last year’s playoffs in the first round, made life miserable for Isaiah Thomas, who had his worst game of the season. He saw his club-record streak of 43 consecutive 20-point games end in a 19-point effort. Thomas shot 4 of 21 from the floor, 1 of 6 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over seven times.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t get any calls and you feel like you’re getting fouled,” said Thomas, who did have seven assists and five rebounds. “We gotta do a better job of holding our head and trying to stay positive, though. It’s just a learning lesson for us.”

As far as the end of the streak, Boston’s little big man said, “No, I’ll break it again. I’m not worried about it. I’ll break it.”

“They were really aggressive on him,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “They were really tough on him. They bodied him up; they were physical, they had a bunch of different guys on him, they were very active on the screens.”

Budenholzer liked the physical play of his team: “I thought that was the thing that maybe stood out. We had an edge, we had a competitive edge, just a level that you need to compete in this league.”

Thomas may be showing signs of fatigue. He is 28 of 89 (31.4 percent) from the floor and 13 of 37 (35.1 percent) from 3-point range in the past four games.

“I’m not as worried about Isaiah; I’m worried about how our team’s playing,” Stevens said.

He should be worried about Horford as well, as the big free agent signee has just 25 total points in the past four games (six Monday). He is 11 of 36 from the floor, 1 of 12 from behind the arc, in the four games.

Early in the third quarter, Thomas went against Howard on a switch, and the big man grabbed the guard by the shoulders and bent him back. A review upheld the personal-foul call (Howard seemed to apologize to Thomas), but soon after Horford hit Howard hard as Howard went for a shot. Howard pushed Horford for the technical.

In Atlanta last month, Dennis Schroder accused Thomas of trash-talking against his mother, a charge Thomas denied. There was no evidence of any of that Monday.

Schroder had 21 points, five assists and four rebounds. Paul Millsap added 17 points and 10 rebounds (nine in the first quarter), and Kent Bazemore contributed 15 points.

Marcus Smart had 16 points and Jaylen Brown 15 off the bench as the Celtics went just 10 of 34 from 3-point range. The Boston starters were a combined 13 of 46 from the floor, 4 of 19 from long distance.