Giannis Antetokounmpo exploded for a career-best and Milwaukee franchise record 64 points and the Bucks got revenge on the Indiana Pacers in a fiery rematch of the In-Season Tournament semi-final in a 140-126 victory.
It marked the eighth regular season 50-plus point game Antetokounmpo’s career. He shot 20-of-28 from the field and 24-of-32 from the free throw line with 14 rebounds and four steals to stuff the stat sheet including scoring 26 points in the fourth quarter alone.
But arguably the biggest talking point was the post-match chaos that played out in dramatic fashion.
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After a couple of scuffles between the two sides during the game, the tense scenes continued after the buzzer when Antetokounmpo bizarrely sprinted into the tunnel to head to the Indiana rooms before returning some time later to confront Tyrese Haliburton in a heated exchange amid reports the Pacers took the game ball.
“This is too much extra-curricular stuff going on with the potential for it to escalate into something else,” the Bucks commentator noted.
According to Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, Pacers players told the Bucks they took the ball to give it to Oscar Tshiebwe after the rookie scored his first career bucket. Milwaukee security was able to retrieve the ball and give it to Antetokounmpo after his historic showing.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle confirmed in his post-game interview it was a simple misjudgement on their part. He revealed the two teams had another altercation in the arena hallway, with Indiana general manager Chad Buchanan reportedly copping a blow to his ribs.
“What happened after the game was unfortunate. There was a misunderstanding about the game ball,” Carlisle said.
“It was Oscar Tschiebwea’s first official NBA point, so we always get the game ball. We were not thinking about Giannis’ franchise record.
“So we grabbed the ball and a couple minutes later a several of their players ended up in our hallway. There was a big fracas or melee or whatever.
“I don’t think any punches were landed, but my general manager got elbowed in the ribs by one of their players. He certainly has a bruised rib and who knows if it’s anything more than that.
“Unfortunate situation. We don’t need the official game ball, there’s two game balls there. We could’ve taken the other one, but it didn’t need to escalate to that. Really just unfortunate.”
Indeed, this was some sort of bitter showdown.
During the opening period, Antetokounmpo bumped Haliburton to the ground after the Pacers guard went coast-to-cast for a layup as the Bucks superstar was assessed for a flagrant foul.
Haliburton sensationally mocked Damian Lillard’s ‘Dame Time’ celebration last time these teams met when the Pacers ousted the Bucks in the In-Season Tournament.
Early in the fourth quarter, things got extra physical after Aaron Nesmith grabbed Antetokounmpo around the neck, leading to an all-in scuffle, with Bobby Portis in the thick of it.
Despite the Bucks being up by around 20 for the majority of fourth quarter, coach Adrian Griffin kept his starters in, which allowed Antetokounmpo to reach his record mark.
After making a pair of free throws with 3:24 left in the fourth, Antetokounmpo scored his 58th point to break Michael Redd’s franchise record of 57 back in 2016.
He then checked out of the game to the sound of ‘MVP’ chants from the home fans. However after the Pacers threatened pull off a comeback in the dying minutes, Antetokounmpo re-entered the game, scoring his 64th point on a fast break slam.
Antetokounmpo now has two of the Bucks’ three biggest ever scoring performances, beating his previous best of 55 set in January this year.
Damian Lillard added 21 points and six assists and Brook Lopez had four blocks as the Bucks improved to 17-7 overall and climb into the Eastern Conference second seed.
Haliburton and Myles Turner scored an equal team-high 22 points for the Pacers, who fell to 13-10 on the season.
The division rivals will play each other two more times during the regular season including a rematch in Milwaukee on January 2 before squaring off again in Indiana on January 4.
AD, WEMBY’S EPIC DUEL
The Pacers star led his team with an equal team-high 22 points alongside Myles Tyrner in this one as the Pacers fell to 13-9.
Who said the NBA centre was a dying breed?
Anthony Davis (37 points, two threes, 10 rebounds, four steals) and Victor Webnamyama (30 points, four triples, 13 boards, two steals, six blocks) both lit it up in an electrifying duel in San Antonio on Thursday as the LeBron James-less Lakers survived a fierce Spurs rally
to win 122-119.
There was a feeling of, ‘anything he can do, I can do better’ in the fourth quarter between Davis and Wembanyama as the two star big men went back and fourth trading buckets at either end of the court.
Davis scored 11 in the exciting final period and Wembanyama had 14 to pace their sides.
It included both stars showing off their shooting range, with Wembanyama nailing back to back threes inside the last minute and a half to lead San Antonio’s late charge, while Davis got a dunk and threw down a huge slam in between in a thrilling sequence.
With the Spurs down three with 17.1 remaining, Wembanyama gave away an offensive foul on a three-point shot after kicking out his leg – a play unsuccessfully challenged by Greg Popovich as the French phenom fouled out of the game.
Davis at the other end made a pair of free throws to ice the win for Lakers as the visitors held of the Spurs’ 45-30 run in the fourth.
Earlier, the Lakers star set social media alight with an epic posterizer dunk on Wembayama in one of the highlights of the contest.
Taurean Prince was the Lakers’ second-highest scorer with 17 as LA improved to 15-10 overall, while Keldon Johnson chipped in 28 points and eight assists for the now 3-20 Spurs, who suffered their 18th-straight loss.
ALL RESULTS
PELICANS 144 WIZARDS 122
76ERS 129 PISTONS 111
HAWKS 128 RAPTORS 135
HORNETS 104 HEAT 115
LAKERS 122 SPURS 119
PACERS 126 BUCKS 140
GRIZZLIES 104 ROCKETS 117
KNICKS 113 JAZZ 117
NETS 116 SUNS 112
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