The Bucks and Kings—two of the NBA’s small-market lifers—have both ranked among the league’s best teams this season. On Monday night, their matchup took on an appropriate big-game flavor that ended with a shoving match and an ejection.
With 15.4 seconds left in Milwaukee’s 133–124 win over Sacramento, Kings forward Trey Lyles fouled Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee center Brook Lopez took exception to the foul and expressed as such to Lyles, who responded by shoving Lopez in the face.
Lopez responded by grabbing Lyles, setting off a wild scrum in which players and coaches attempted to peel the two players off each other. Eventually, Lopez was ejected.
Antetokounmpo dominated proceedings in the Bucks’ win, scoring 46 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and handing out four assists.
"The game was over. Giannis is dribbling out the clock," Lopez told reporters postgame. "I don’t know what (Lyles) was doing messing with Giannis, doing too much. Like I said, the game was already over. So I just wanted to go out there and protect my guy.”
Milwaukee and Sacramento currently sit at first and third in the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively.
