SACRAMENTO — Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown wasn’t sure exactly what happened in a brawl between the two teams at the end of Monday night’s 133-124 loss to the visiting Milwaukee Bucks. But Brown had a message for any NBA team hoping to test their Kings as they inch closer to posting a season high for the first time since 2006.
Brown said after the game, “I don’t know what happened, but I’m not taking no sh– from anybody.” “Trust me on that. And they’re all about patting each other on the back.”
Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo was slowly dribbling in front of Kings forward Trey Lyles with the final seconds left in the game. Several Kings said after the game that they objected to Antetokounmpo’s slow and angled dribbling.
A frustrated Lyles tried to steal the ball from Antetokounmpo before throwing it to him with two hands with 15.1 seconds left. Unbeknownst to Antetokounmpo, Bucks center Brook Lopez approached Lyles face-to-face. Lyles responded by grabbing Lopez’s neck. López immediately chased after Lyle’s head before referees, players, coaches and security personnel from both teams quickly gathered.
After López was subdued near half court, the situation calmed down as soon as the brawl reached the scorer’s table.
Both Lopez and Lyles were eliminated from the competition. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer also played it safe by taking Antetokounmpo out of the game.
The Bucks were up 120–116 with just 3:11 remaining before going on a 13–6 run to win.
“It’s unfortunate,” Budenholzer said. “I think it was a great game. I was very impressed with Sacramento and the way they played. I won’t say anything about what did or didn’t happen.”
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said: “Giannis could dribble the ball. All he had to do was, and nothing would happen.”
Antetokounmpo had a game-high 46 points, 12 rebounds and four assists while teammate Khris Middleton added 31 points and nine assists. Fox had a team-high 35 points for Sacramento, while fellow All-Star Domantas Sabonis added 23 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists for his 10th triple-double of the season.
