Giannis Antetokounmpo races to Pacers’ tunnel to get Game Ball after scoring club-record 64 in Bucks’s victory

Giannis Antetokounmpo set a Milwaukee Bucks franchise record with 64 points to lead his team to a 140-126 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night but faced difficulty in getting the game ball.

Antetokounmpo, who broke the record of 57 points set by Micheal Redd in 2006, also added 14 rebounds. But there was controversy after the game.

The Indiana Pacers players took the game ball away to give it to a rookie Oscar Tshiebwe who scored his first career basket on the night.

Giannis got furious and took for the Pacer’s locker room in an attempt to retrieve the ball.  The Bucks security later was able to retrieve the ball for Giannis.

When asked if he is convinced he has the game ball, Giannis said, “I have no idea I’m not gonna lie.”

“I don’t know. I have the ball but It doesn’t feel like the ball. “It feels like a brand new ball.”

“I knew they had the game ball. that’s what’s why ran to their locker room.”

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle explained in detail what he saw happening after the game, a situation he repeatedly called “unfortunate.” He noted that there were two game balls, so it didn’t need to “escalate to that.”

“There was a misunderstanding about the game ball,” Carlisle said. “It was Oscar Tshiebwe’s first official NBA point, so we always get the game ball. We were not thinking about Giannis’s franchise record, so we grabbed the ball. A couple of minutes later, several of their players ended up in our hallway.

“There was a big, I don’t know what to call it, a fracas. I don’t think any punches were landed, but my general manager [Chad Buchanan] got elbowed in the ribs by one of their players.”

Story By: Princeton Wiredu