Isaiah Thomas, Rajon Rondo Ejected After Altercation in Lakers vs. Pelicans Game

Isaiah Thomas and Rajon Rondo both saw their Wednesday evenings on the court come to a premature end.

According to Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet, Thomas and Rondo were both ejected from Wednesday's contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans. Trudell noted "Rondo hit Thomas in the head," which drew the initial technical, before "Rondo kept coming at Thomas, resulting in matching technicals" and the eventual ejections.

After the game, Thomas discussed the incident with reporters:

This was Thomas' second game for the Lakers since they acquired him via a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rondo—who attended Paul Pierce's jersey retirement ceremony in Boston on Sunday—made headlines related to Thomas earlier this season when he took umbrage with the Celtics' decision to honor the University of Washington product.

"What has he done?" Rondo asked, per Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "Oh, that's what we celebrate around here?" he added when told Thomas led Boston to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Rondo continued, per Doyle: "This is the Boston Celtics. This isn't the Phoenix Suns, no disrespect to any other organization, but you don't hang conference titles. Do we hang going to the conference finals? What do we hang here?"

The bad blood between the two former Celtics point guards was apparent on the floor Wednesday.

Thomas exited with three points and two assists, while Rondo finished with four points, five assists and three rebounds.

The Lakers are in rebuilding mode, but the Pelicans entered play Wednesday just a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and had the opportunity to create additional space in the standings with a matchup against the 23-32 Lakers. Fortunately, New Orleans still has Jrue Holiday, E'Twaun Moore and Ian Clark to handle the ball on the perimeter.