Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a team record 64 points as his Milwaukee Bucks side defeated the Indiana Pacers 140-126 in the NBA on Wednesday night.
After the game, Antetokounmpo was involved in a heated exchange with Pacers players and coaching staff over the game ball. The Pacers had taken it as a memento for Oscar Tshiebew who had scored his first NBA point in the game.
Antetokounmpo did finish the night with a ball in his possession but he was not convinced it was the one used during the game.
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
"I have no idea, I'm not going to lie," he said during the post-game press conference when asked if he had the ball.
"I have a ball but I don't know if it's the game ball. It doesn't feel like the game ball to me. It feels like a brand new ball. I can tell.
"I played 35 minutes today, I know how the game ball felt. The ball that I have, which I will take and give it to my mom for sure, I don't know if it's actually the game ball. It's OK. Life continues.
"I don't even have the game ball from game six in the NBA finals, which hurts me.
"I've never seen this before. I know they had the game ball. I don't [just] think they had the game ball. I know they had the ball.
"I understand that when you score your first points in the NBA that you want to have the ball."
Giannis is only the 5th player in NBA history to score 60+ PTS on 70%+ FG.
He joins:
- Wilt Chamberlain (4x)
- Karl Malone
- David Thompson
- Damian Lillard pic.twitter.com/zegLVxgD36— NBA History (@NBAHistory) December 14, 2023
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said what happened after the game was "unfortunate".
"There was a misunderstanding about the game ball," he continued.
"We were not thinking about Giannis's franchise record, so we grabbed the ball.
"A couple of minutes later, several of their players ended up in our hallway, and there was a big, I don’t know what to call it - a fracas, melee, 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 had 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 have taken the other one, but it didn’t need to escalate to that. Really unfortunate."
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