Westbrook, Villanueva ejected for separate incidents in OKC-Dallas

The Dallas Mavericks entered Wednesday night's game at the Oklahoma City Thunder shorthanded after opting to rest four starters following Tuesday's overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. A poor decision by veteran forward Charlie Villanueva left them without a fill-in starter by the end of the first half, but that incident eventually played a part in the Thunder losing a much bigger name just a few minutes later.

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With 5:16 remaining in the second quarter, Westbrook and Dallas guard J.J. Barea got tangled on a post-up as the former went up for a shot attempt. Westbrook took exception to Barea's contact and pushed him on the way down (either as retaliation or to gain separation), which started a minor kerfuffle. The incident may have died down fairly quickly if not for the actions of Villanueva, who grabbed at Westbrook's throat (and arguably did the same to Serge Ibaka) as an unnecessary bit of escalation. Take a look:

Villanueva was ejected, leaving Dallas with few available rotation players in their attempt to defeat one of the West's best teams. Westbrook, Barea, and Ibaka also received technical fouls after the official review.

OKC could have considered that resolution to be a net-positive if not for a bad move by Westbrook just 80 seconds prior to the halftime buzzer. As he dribbled up the floor in transition attended by Barea, Westbrook pushed the diminutive guard off him. That resulted in another technical, triggering an automatic ejection:

Erik Horne of The Oklahoman adds the language that may have inspired the referees to give Westbrook that second tech:

The ejection of one of the sport's most explosive talents may have hurt the Thunder more if not for the fact that they entered the half up 65-42 due to 52.2 percent shooting from the field and an iffy performance from the undermanned Mavericks. That lead held up as OKC picked up a 108-89 win. Kevin Durant led the way with 29 points on 9-of-14 FG and 10 rebounds.

Nevertheless, Westbrook will regret his decision, if only because he finished the game 0-of-3 from the field for the second scoreless appearance of his career and first since March 2010. He will have to settle for the seven rebounds and eight assists he logged in 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, Villanueva's ejection figures to be reviewed by the league in advance of a potential fine or suspension. The good news for the Mavericks is that they'll have their rested players back if he sees any sort of absence.

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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