The Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers have a new, burgeoning rivalry in the Central Division. The Bucks are the old favorite, the 2021 champions, and among the favorites to win it all this season with Damian Lillard in tow. The Pacers are the new kid on the block, armed with the highest-scoring offense in league history, and the proud owners of a 2-0 record against the Bucks this year.
Indiana and Milwaukee met again on Wednesday night less than a week after the Pacers knocked the Bucks out of the in-season tournament, and it resulted in a historic performance and a ridiculous drama that could only happen in the NBA.
The Bucks beat the Pacers, 140-126, to finally earn a win against Indiana this year. Everyone knows about the Pacers’ blazing offense, but the team also entered the night with the No. 27 defense. The Pacers just don’t have a lot of length or beef inside, and Giannis Antetokounmpo leveraged that weakness to put up the highest scoring game of his career. That’s where things started to get weird.
Antetokounmpo finished with 64 points on 20-of-28 shooting, setting a new Bucks franchise record in the process (Michael Redd held the old record with 58 points). After the game, Giannis hoped to commemorate the highest scoring game of his career by taking home the game ball. There was only problem: the Pacers already grabbed the game ball to give to rookie big man Oscar Tshiebwe for scoring the first point of his NBA career on a made free throw.
A surreal scene played out after the game where Bucks players charged into the tunnel in Indiana to grab the game ball for Giannis, as was first reported by TNT’s Chris Haynes. What played out in the tunnel was described by Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle as a “fracas,” and apparently included a Pacers executive suffering bruised ribs after catching an elbow.
Here’s video of what happened on the floor after the final whistle blew on the Bucks victory:
Giannis goers sprinting down the tunnel and then returns a minute later to go off on Lloyd Pierce and Tyrese Halliburton demanding they get the game ball back as one of the Pacers took it pic.twitter.com/MocZ4VPNBi
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 14, 2023
What a wild video: from Giannis sprinting to the tunnel while a staffer tries to hold him back, to him scolding Pacers start Tyrese Haliburton on the floor, it feels like there’s really some bad blood building between these two teams.
Antetokounmpo spoke about what transpired after the game. He said he came away with a ball … but he’s not sure if it’s the game ball.
“I have a ball, but I don’t know if it’s a game ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “It feels like a brand new ball.”
Watch Giannis’ full comments here:
Giannis says he has a ball but doesn’t know if it’s the game ball. Said it doesn’t feel like the game ball. Talks about the whole situation pic.twitter.com/ZE4q10pPuT
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 14, 2023
Carlisle explained the incident from the Pacers point of view after the game. He said the team grabbed the game ball for Tshiebwe, described the uproar in the hallways of the arena, and called the way it played out “unfortunate.”
Watch Carlisle’s full comments here:
For all the silliness post-game, Giannis was undeniably incredible on this night. Watch the full highlights of his performance here.
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Add in brother Thanasis needing to be held back after a hard foul, and this was certainly a night Giannis will never forget. Who knows, maybe these teams will have a playoff series in their future. What great theater that would be.
