Emotions are running high on Wednesday night as the Milwaukee Bucks host the Indiana Pacers at the Fiserv Forum. This is the first time these two teams meet after the Pacers took out the Bucks in the semifinal of the NBA in-season tournament in Las Vegas last week.
Unsurprisingly, the physicality has been on full display early on.
At around the midpoint of the first quarter, the teams’ two superstars were involved in a mini altercation that led to Giannis Antetokounmpo being whistled for a technical foul for his antics:
Tyrese Haliburton was knocked to the floor by Giannis Antetokounnpo
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 14, 2023
The play is currently under review for a Flagrant foul.
pic.twitter.com/N7yLZ4l4nZ
Haliburton got a bit excited after throwing down a dunk on MarJon Beauchamp, which Giannis did not take to too well. You can clearly see Antetokounmpo delivering a bit of a body shot on the Pacers point guard using his forearm as the two players cross paths.
Haliburton hit the deck, which prompted the officials to review the play. It did not take long before the referees decided to hand Giannis a technical foul.
Antetokounmpo did approach Haliburton to apologize for the hit:
Now, this is a beautiful move from Giannis to apologize to Haliburton… pic.twitter.com/foZdqHN8wv
— Harris Stavrou (@harris_stavrou) December 14, 2023
Haliburton accepted the apology and the game resumed without incident.
There’s clearly going to be a lot more action in this one as the high-stakes matchup progresses.
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