Jason Kidd was ejected from Wednesday's game after knocking the ball away from a referee's hands.

Kidd said he was sticking up for himself and protecting his players before he was tossed.

"I walked all the way down to get a timeout," Kidd said, "and then we had our discussion. He gave me the T.

"From there, I'm trying to protect my guys. Understanding we felt we were getting fouled and the whistle wasn't being blown. What happens in this league, you have to stand up for yourself, and my job is to protect those young guys.

"But that wasn't the issue of the game. We gave them warm-up jump shots. They got our temperature, saw we didn't want to play defense and they took advantage of it. That's as easy as it is."

Kidd was restrained by O.J. Mayo and an assistant coach.