Pacers and Bucks have postgame scrum involving game ball after 64 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Oscar Tshiebwe first NBA points
The Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks had an incident involving the supposed game ball after the Bucks beat the Pacers 140-126 on Wednesday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored a career-high and franchise-record 64 points, thought that the Pacers took the game ball back to their locker room area, according to Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes. Antetokounmpo ran back into the hallway to retrieve it after the game, which was visible on video via game broadcasts.
Antetokounmpo was angry in the moment. It appears that a Bucks staff member grabbed the game ball right as the game ended.
A few Pacers coaches, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, said that they had a reserve game ball as opposed to the actual ball. Indiana's head coach Rick Carlisle explained that the team took that reserve ball because rookie center Oscar Tshiebwe scored his first NBA regular season points during the game and they wanted to give him a ball.
"What happened after the game was unfortunate," Carlisle said. "There was a misunderstanding about the game ball. It was Oscar Tshiebwe's first official NBA point, so we always get the game ball. We were not thinking about Giannis' franchise record."
Carlisle added that many Bucks players ended up in the Pacers hallway, which led to what he called a fracas. He said no punches were landed but that general manager Chad Buchanan got elbowed in the ribs.
Antetokounmpo claimed after the game that he knew the Pacers had the game ball. He did end up with a ball, but he isn't sure if it's the one that was used in the game.
Somewhere along the way after the game ended, there was some sort of misunderstanding with basketballs. It isn't clear what ended up where, but it led to some tension and a scuffle after the game. It should be noted that Damian Lillard moved into fifth-place on the all-time three pointers made list during the game as well.
The Pacers typically take a game ball when they have a player score their first NBA points.
Indiana and Milwaukee next play on January 1. The Bucks will be the hosts that night, then the two teams will again play on January 3 in Indianapolis to close out the season series.
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