MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥 Giannis Antetokounmpo exchanged heated words with members of the Indiana staff and raced toward the Pacers鈥 locker room Wednesday night as the teams squared off in a hallway in a dispute over the game ball following the Milwaukee star鈥檚 franchise-record 64-point performance.
After the Bucks' 140-126 victory, Antetokounmpo had an animated discussion with Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton and other Pacers in search of the ball.
The Bucks wanted the game ball for Antetokounmpo. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said the Pacers took the ball for Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first official NBA point.
That led to a confrontation between members of the teams in the arena hallway. Afterward, there still was confusion over who had which game ball.
鈥淚 have no idea. I鈥檓 not going to lie,鈥 Antetokounmpo said. 鈥淚 have no idea. I don鈥檛 know. I really don鈥檛 know. I have a ball, but I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 the game ball. It doesn鈥檛 feel like the game ball to me. It feels like a brand new ball. I can tell. I played, what, 35 minutes today. I know how the game ball felt. The ball that I have, which I鈥檒l take and I鈥檒l give it to my mom for sure, but I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 actually the game ball.鈥
One video appears to show the actual . Carlisle said the Pacers apparently have a reserve game ball they took after the game.
Bucks guard Cameron Payne said he was one of the players who went down the tunnel.
鈥淢an wanted that ball,鈥 Payne said. 鈥淚鈥檓 following my team, helping my teammate out. It was just a lot of commotion, honestly. He just wanted his ball, man.鈥
Carlisle said a number of the Bucks were in the hallway near the Indiana locker room and a confrontation occurred, with Indiana鈥檚 general manager getting elbowed in the ribs.
鈥淲hat happened after the game was unfortunate,鈥 Carlisle said. 鈥淭here was a misunderstanding about the game ball. ... We were not thinking about Giannis鈥 franchise record, so we grabbed the ball.
鈥淎 couple of minutes later, several of their players ended up in our hallway, and there was a big, I don鈥檛 know what to call it 鈥 a fracas, melee, whatever. I don鈥檛 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鈥檚 anything more than that. Unfortunate situation.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 need the official game ball. There鈥檚 two game balls there. We could have taken the other one, but it didn鈥檛 need to escalate to that. Really unfortunate.鈥
Carlisle cited the teams playing three times in the last few weeks and said that things were heated between the teams. Indiana knocked off Milwaukee last Thursday night in the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament in Las Vegas.
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