In a heated battle between the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks, Blake Griffin once again displayed how fervent of a competitor he is — and it cost him and his team dearly on Friday night.

After drilling a 3-pointer, Griffin faced the Hawks bench and seemed to trash talk. While it could have been let go by the game officials, Hawks players didn't stay quiet. In the midst of the fracas, Vince Carter noticeably appeared most infuriated.

It was Griffin's second technical, and to be fair, the referees may have been backed into a corner on this one.

Fortunately for Griffin, the Pistons managed to survive and edge the Hawks 125-122. Andre Drummond, who became the second youngest player to reach 7,000 career rebounds, picked up the slack and finished with 26 points and 21 rebounds.

Reggie Jackson, on the other hand, led all Pistons in scoring with 32 points on top of five rebounds and eight assists.

Blake Griffin, 29, has definitely had a career resurgence since joining Detroit via trade last season. Pistons head coach Dwane Casey even spoke on the six-time All-Star's influence on the organization, saying that he was most impressed by his basketball intellect.

Before he was ejected, Griffin had 15 points and four rebounds. He lasted only 23 minutes in the game.