Isaiah Thomas on Wizards: 'We don't like them, they don't like us'

— -- WASHINGTON -- After a Game 3 that featured eight technical fouls and three ejections, Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas admitted that bad blood lingers with the Washington Wizards.

"We don't like them and they don't like us. That's just what it is," Thomas said after the Wizards pummeled the Celtics 116-89 in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series Thursday night at Verizon Center.

The Celtics lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday night in Washington.

"Whatever bad blood we've had in the season, it's carried over to the playoffs," Thomas said. "We're just competing and trying to win, and they did that today. We took care of business at home, now we just gotta try to get Game 4."

In a game filled with mostly minor flare-ups, Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was ejected after shoving Celtics big man Kelly Olynyk in the second quarter.

After Olynyk was whistled for an offensive foul for an illegal screen that left Oubre on the ground, Oubre sprang to his feet and rushed at Olynyk, shoving him as Olynyk argued the original call to a nearby referee.

Oubre actually reached across referee Monty McCutchen to deliver the shove, which knocked Olynyk to the floor. Oubre continued yelling at Olynyk as McCutchen held him back before teammates separated the two players.

Oubre was assessed a flagrant 2 and ejected from the game. Fans inside chanted Oubre's name as the referees reviewed the video.

The league reviews all flagrant fouls, and Oubre could face a suspension or fine for his actions.

Olynyk wouldn't offer much on the incident after the game. Asked if he was surprised that Oubre charged at him, Olynyk said, "Yeah, man. I didn't expect it."

Pressed on if he thought he deserved a suspension, Olynyk said, "That's up to other people to determine."

Olynyk's teammates were less pleased with Oubre's actions.

"There was no such thing as the 'two Kellys.' Kelly Olynyk stayed back, Oubre just came at him." Celtics big man Al Horford said. "So Kelly stayed back, he made a basketball play, and the incident happened."

Added Thomas: "I don't know what [Oubre] was doing. The screens we've been setting, especially in the backcourt, for the most part I feel like they've been legal. It's just those guys fall, and the refs call an offensive foul. I don't know why he reacted like that. Especially with [Olynyk]. Kelly's not trying to make anybody mad. Not to put anything on Kelly, but he's just not like that. I guess you can pick and choose who you want to do that to."

Wizards coach Scott Brooks said his players must control their emotions better in those situations, but suggested Oubre might have been upset by repeated hard screens.

"We can't respond that way, but when you get hit in the head a few times ..." Brooks said, before shrugging. "I mean, we're very competitive guys out there. We have two teams that are very competitive. But if you keep getting hit in the head you might respond that way. I think that's what he did.

"I'm not saying that was the right thing to do. We have to focus on playing basketball. We can't control what they're doing. We just have to control what's in our game plan and stay focused. I haven't talked to [Oubre]. I definitely will talk to him. We have to keep our control and you have to let the referees call those calls. And at that particular time, they did call the right call."

Oubre's incident with Olynyk came after Washington's Ian Mahinmi got into a brief scuffle with Jonas Jerebko of the Celtics. Both players received technical fouls for their involvement.

Before Game 3, Wizards stars John Wall and Bradley Beal both talked about being more physical in their series against Boston.

"We get fouled a lot, but it's the playoffs," Beal said. "We can't complain, can't be passive. We gotta push back."

After the game, it was the Celtics saying they had to match Washington's physicality.

"It's the playoffs, and the home team has been the most physical team," Jae Crowder said. "We were the most physical team at home, and the tables turned today. We have to match it."

Wall's backup, Brandon Jennings, made sure he kept pushing, as he got into a spat with Celtics reserve point guard Terry Rozier that ended with both men being ejected on double technicals in the fourth quarter.

The two had a brief flare-up near the Boston bench and kept barking at each other as play continued. Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who is typically stoic, picked up a technical during the sequence for arguing the original technical call against Rozier.

It was just the fifth technical foul in Stevens' four-year NBA coaching career.

Not to be outdone, the Wizards' Brooks also picked up a fourth-quarter technical.

Thursday's game marked the first time since 2013 that an NBA playoff game featured at least eight techs. The Bulls (six) and Heat (three) combined for nine total technicals in a game the Heat won 115-78.

The Wizards' 27-point victory may be noted by all the extracurricular activity, but Celtics forward Gerald Green has only one thing in mind for the teams' next game on Sunday.

"We gonna beat their ass in Game 4," he said.