Watch - Thanasis Antetokounmpo loses his mind, headbutts Blake Griffin in massive loss to Celtics
Tempers flared during Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co.'s 140-99 blowout loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
That came as Bucks reserve forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo got into an altercation with Celtics veteran forward Blake Griffin late in the fourth quarter. The altercation started when Antetokounmpo headbutted Griffin after a foul call. Both teams then got involved before the situation was diffused. Antetokounmpo was later ejected from the game with 1:25 remaining.
Watch the altercation below:
Thanasis Antetokounmpo headbutted Blake Griffin after the hard foul 😳
Thanasis was ejected from Bucks-Celtics.
https://t.co/ViCSSxOSjh
Celtics hand Antetokounmpo and Co. worst loss of season
Milwaukee’s matchup against Boston on Thursday was expected by many to be a tightly contested showdown between the league’s two best teams. Instead, Milwaukee tied their biggest loss this season, going down by a whopping 41 points.
The Celtics shot a hyper-efficient 56.0% (51-91) and 51.2% from the three (22-for-43), while Milwaukee shot just 37.6% (38-for-101). Boston was led by star forward Jayson Tatum, who finished with 40 points, eight rebounds and eight 3-pointers on 66.7% shooting.
“We responded well from the jump,” Tatum said postgame. “That's all that I wanted and we wanted as a team, regardless of if we won or not, just to respond and play better than we did last game.”
Celtics star wing Jaylen Brown added 30 points, five rebounds and five assists on 65.0% shooting. Following the game, Brown downplayed the importance of the win:
“This don’t really mean much,” Brown said. “If we play them again, we’ve got to be ready to take their best shot.”
The Bucks were led by superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo with 24 points, seven rebounds and two assists on just 40.7% shooting. Antetokounmpo spoke about his team’s lack of focus in his postgame interview:
“We know what the deal is,” Antetokounmpo said. “If you’re not focused and you don’t play hard, they are going to kick our (butt). Simple as that. There is no level of concern. It’s a fact. If we play the same way, we’ll have the same outcome. We’ve got to have some pride.”
Following the win, Boston (53-24, second in the East) is now just two games behind Milwaukee (55-22, first in the East) in the Eastern Conference, with five games remaining. Boston now has the tiebreaker after winning their season series against Milwaukee 2-1.
The Celtics next play on Friday against Utah (36-40, 12th in the West), while the Bucks take on Philadelphia (50-26, third in the East) on Sunday.
Watch: Khris Middleton left bloodied after taking an elbow from Jaylen Brown