Rondo suspended 2 games for throwing ball at ref

NEW YORK – Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo has been suspended two games without pay by the NBA for throwing a ball at an official during a game.

Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president for basketball operations, announced the suspension Monday, one day after Rondo received two technical fouls and was ejected late in the third quarter of Boston's 96-81 loss at the Detroit Pistons.

Rondo was upset that a foul wasn't called with about 3:00 left in the quarter and tossed the ball at referee Sean Wright. He followed that with a verbal barrage directed at Wright and was ejected from a game for the first time in his professional career.

"You're always disappointed when that happens," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "You should never put yourself in front of the team. But it's an emotional game. We can all agree that it was a pretty bad foul and a clear foul that wasn't called. At the time, we were getting our butts kicked and the frustration was high and it's a human game. I can guarantee you five seconds, 30 seconds after it happened, I guarantee you Rondo wished he could take it back."

Rondo will miss Monday night's game at Dallas and Wednesday's matchup with Oklahoma City.

Rivers didn't seem surprised that the suspension was for two games.

"They told us early to don't prepare for him playing tonight. When they said that, I felt it meant multiple, otherwise they would have said one game."