Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmponeeded to be restrained from the father of Tyrese Haliburton in the heated moments following the Indiana Pacers guard’s series-clinching layup in Indianapolis on Tuesday night.
Indiana forced two turnovers in the final 29 seconds of overtime, and Haliburton blew past Antetokounmpo for the go-ahead layup with 1.3 seconds left to give the Pacers a 119-118 victory and a 4-1 first-round victory. That’s when the chippy playoff series ended, fittingly, with a shoving match between the teams at midcourt.
In a moment, Antetokounmpo went from hugging Pacers center Myles Turner to becoming entangled with Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin. The 6-foot-11 Greek sensation ultimately needed to be restrained by players and security.
And Antetokounmpo wasn’t the only Bucks player in the fracas. Kevin Porter Jr. was also seen shoving Pacers players long after Mathurin had been lead away by Indiana coaches.
But things got truly bizarre after Antetokounmpo and John Haliburton, Tyrese’s father, needed to be separated on the floor.
Afterwards, Antetokounmpo told reporters that the elder Haliburton approached him on the floor while waving a towel emblazoned with the image of his son.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo got into a heated argument with the father of Tyrese Haliburton following the Indiana Pacers guard’s series-clinching layup
Teammates, coaches and security ultimately worked to separate the two
‘I thought he was a fan, but then I realized he was Tyrese’s dad,’ Antetokounmpo said, while making it clear respects the Pacers guard.
‘It was his dad… coming on the floor and showing me a towel with his [son’s] face,’ Antetokounmpo continued before paraphrasing John. ”’This is what we do. This is what we effing do.”’
‘I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful,’ Antetokounmpo added.
Even Tyrese Haliburton agreed.
‘I don’t think my pops was in the right,’ Tyrese said after the game, adding that he expected to speak with both his father and Antetokounmpo about the incident.
Speaking about his own late father, Antetokounmpo said he was raised to be ‘humble in victory.’
‘Now there can be a lot of people out there that are like, ”No, when you win the game, you got to talk s***,”’ he continued. ‘It’s a green light for you to be disrespectful to somebody else. I disagree.’
After recently being voted the NBA’s ‘most overrated’ in The Athletic’s player poll, Haliburton had 26 points and 10 assists as he improved to 9-0 in home playoff games.
Afterwards, he responded to that poll on X by writing: ‘Overrate THAT.’
Antetokounmpo tried to will the short-handed Bucks to victory, finishing with 30 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists, and Gary Trent Jr. made eight 3-pointers and scored 33 points for Milwaukee.
Tyrese Haliburton #0 of the Indiana Pacers celebrates with his father, John Haliburton
What began a a hug turned into something else with Mathurin (right) and Antetokounmpo (left)
Kevin Porter Jr. (back right) enters the fray as Pacers players restrain Mathurin (right)
Security is seen working to separate Bucks and Pacers players after the first-round series
But Trent was also the culprit in the two turnovers late in OT. His inbound pass was stolen by Andrew Nembhard Jr., leading to a three-point play by Haliburton. And then, with the Bucks leading by one and just needing to maintain possession and get to the free-throw line, the Pacers pressured the ball, forcing Milwaukee to scramble. Trent couldn’t control an errant pass and lost the ball out of bounds with 10.8 seconds left.
After Haliburton converted the go-ahead shot, all Milwaukee could manage was a nearly full-court heave by Trent that had no chance.
Turner had 21 points and nine rebounds while Aaron Nesmith added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Nembhard made a 3-pointer to start Indiana’s closing run and finished with 15 points.
In an effort to avoid a third straight first-round exit, Bucks coach Doc Rivers plugged guards AJ Green and Porter Jr. as well as forward Bobby Portis Jr. into the starting lineup.
The Bucks were missing 10-time All-Star Damian Lillard, who tore his left Achilles tendon in Game 4 on Sunday night.