Jeff Teague, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jae Crowder ejected from Jazz-Timberwolves

— -- Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jeff Teague was ejected in the fourth quarter of Friday's game after he hip-checked Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio and was called for a flagrant foul 2.

Teague was chasing Rubio down the court when he lowered his shoulder and bumped Rubio into the Minnesota bench. He was tossed with 5 minutes, 20 seconds left in the Jazz's 116-108 win.

After Teague left the court, Jazz guard Jae Crowder and Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau were issued double technicals for arguing with each other. Crowder was later ejected for picking up his second technical foul with 45.3 seconds remaning.

Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns also was ejected just before halftime when he was called for his second technical foul for arguing a non-call.

Referee Kane Fitzgerald said after the game that Towns' first technical foul was for dead-ball contact of an elbow to the Crowder's face. The second technical was for "continuous complaint. Three or four plays in a row he was complaining and a technical foul was given."

Timberwolves forward Jimmy Butler, who is sidelined due to surgery on his right knee, approved of Teague's fiery play.?

Butler, who had not tweeted since Deember 2016 before Friday night, then called out Crowder for stepping up to Thibodeau.

That tweet prompted a response from Crowder.?

Asked about the Twitter exchange in the locker room after the game, Crowder just smiled and shrugged it off.

"He is a competitor, he's a trash talker, he is all of the above," Crowder said of Butler, his former college teammate at Marquette.

"He wishes he was out there competing in a game like that, that's what probably eating him up the most, he wishes he was on the court, fighting with his guys...that's my guy," said Crowder.