Ranking all the beefs between Wizards, Celtics this season

It's only three games old, but the Eastern Conference semifinal between the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards has already delivered on every bit of the bad-blooded hysteria that was portended throughout this season.

The tension boiled over in Game 3 - when three ejections and seven technical fouls were doled out, as increasingly obscure and random pairs of individuals found reason to mix it up - but the seeds of this catfight were planted a long time ago.

As Isaiah Thomas said, "We don't like them and they don't like us."

With Thursday night's mayhem in the rearview, here's our unofficial ranking of all the different beefs between the Wizards and Celtics this season.

John Wall vs. Jae Crowder (Beef rating: 10/10)

One does not simply boop another person on the nose unless there is some serious bad blood coursing through them.

Crowder and Wall serve as the emotional spark plugs for their respective teams, so it's no surprise that they would have beef. The two stood face to face in a brooding detente, trading verbal haymakers before Crowder hit Wall with a nose-boop, which Wall answered with a slap.

The confrontation spilled over into the locker room and police had to be called. Lesson here? Don't boop someone's nose unless you want a fight.

Isaiah Thomas vs. Markieff Morris (Beef rating: 9/10)

Morris may have picked the wrong fight when he decided to physically bar Thomas from talking to referee Rodney Mott in the third quarter of Game 2, after Thomas had busted Otto Porter's nose with an inadvertent headbutt.

Let's just say Thomas got the last word. The Wizards were up 14 at the time, but from that point on Thomas doused the Wizards in napalm, and got to stare Morris right in the eye as he set him and his team ablaze.

John Wall vs. Marcus Smart (Beef rating: 8/10)

Smart is a world-class agitator equipped with relentlessly physical defense and endlessly shameful flops, which makes him the perfect target for Wall's fury.

The two players have yet to engage in these playoffs, but it's only a matter of time. Back in November, Wall earned himself an ejection for clobbering Smart with a two-handed tackle.

What prompted Wall to lose his temper? Revenge. Avery Bradley had been stepping on his bleeding fingers for most of the night and Wall lashed out. Smart just took the hit.

Kelly Oubre vs. Kelly Olynyk (Beef rating: 7.5/10)

Perhaps the NBA's only two active Kellys were always destined to come to blows.

Olynyk has developed an unnerving penchant for borderline-reckless plays, and it was probably only a matter of time until somebody decked him. This seemed like an odd time for it to happen; his screen on Oubre in Game 3, while probably illegal, didn't look particularly dirty. But Oubre took exception to the high forearm, and got up steaming mad. Olynyk never saw it coming.

This was a heated skirmish, no doubt, but the beef is still a bit raw.

Markieff Morris vs. Al Horford (Beef rating: 6/10)

This beef started to marinate when Morris landed on Horford's foot while coming down on a jump shot early in Game 1. Morris suffered a sprained ankle and missed the rest of the game, and afterward suggested Horford may have purposely stuck the foot out to undercut him.

Morris returned to start Game 2, and this is how he greeted Horford just 68 seconds into the game.

This beef had serious potential, but Horford had to go and take it off the grill early. He subsequently vowed not to engage with Morris further, saying, "I'm not going to give him any more play."

Terry Rozier vs. Brandon Jennings (Beef Rating: 5/10)

It's still not entirely clear what this was all about, but Jennings and Rozier - who combined to play 24 mostly meaningless minutes in Game 3 - got in on the action during extended garbage-time run.

This was the culmination of a preposterous sequence of events in the fourth quarter, in which the two continued to bump and jaw at each other until both were mercifully tossed.

Over the course of 52 seconds of game time, Jennings hit a jumper over Rozier, Jennings fouled Rozier, Jennings drew an offensive foul on Rozier, Rozier fouled Jennings on an inbound play, Jennings and Rozier were assessed double technicals, Rozier beat Jennings on a drive, and the two yapped at each other going into a timeout, earning their second set of double technicals and automatic ejections.

Fun stuff.

Ian Mahinmi vs. Jonas Jerebko (Beef rating: 0/10)

Blame it on peer pressure, because there is no reason whatsoever for Mahinmi and Jerebko to have the most random scuffle ever in Game 3.

The two European forwards earned technicals in Game 3 after getting tangled up on a layup. Mahinmi pushed away Jerebko's arm and they briefly stood face to face separated by a referee. Yawn.