Celtics' Grant Williams Suspended 1 Game for Making Contact with Referee vs. Bulls

Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams has been suspended one game without pay for making contact with an official during Tuesday's 120-102 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Per an official announcement from the NBA, Williams' suspension is for "recklessly making contact with and directing inappropriate language toward a game official" prompting him to receive a technical foul and be ejected from the game in the fourth quarter.

There were back-to-back plays early in the fourth quarter when Williams was called for a charge when the Celtics had the ball and a blocking foul when Zach LaVeine was attempting to drive to the basket.

After being whistled for the defensive foul, Williams immediately got to his feet and the side of his body made contact with the official. The contact didn't appear to be intentional, but he was called for a technical foul and ejected.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla was also tossed from the game in the third quarter. Nikola Vučević took exception to being called for a foul against Jaylen Brown, including acting like he was going to slam the ball onto the court, but the officials allowed it to go without giving him a technical.

Mazzulla was unhappy about the no-call and received a double-technical foul while making his case to the officials.

The ejections for Williams and Mazzulla were part of a disappointing night for the Celtics. The defending Eastern Conference champions were off to a fantastic 3-0 start, including wins over the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat.

It looked early on like the Celtics were going to cruise to an easy victory against the Bulls. They started the game on a 12-0 run and led by as many as 19 points in the first quarter.

Chicago flipped the script in the second quarter with a 35-15 scoring advantage to take an 11-point lead into halftime. The Celtics were held to 48 points in the second half to take their first loss of the season.

Williams, who averaged 12.7 points in the first three games, was held scoreless on three field-goal attempts in 18 minutes on Wednesday.

The Celtics will play Friday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden without Williams.