Giannis Antetokounmpo ejected after controversial taunting foul in close Bucks win
The Milwaukee Bucks pulled off an incredible comeback win against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, but star Giannis Antetokounmpo could only watch from the locker room. Antetokounmpo missed most of the third quarter, and all of the fourth quarter, after being ejected for a controversial taunting foul.
The play occurred with nine minutes left in the third quarter. After a block on defense, Antetokounmpo took the ball coast-to-coast and threw down a vicious one-handed dunk to put the Bucks up by 13 points.
A whistle was blown after the play and Antetokounmpo was ejected from the game. His crime: Staring at Pistons center Isaiah Stewart for too long.
You can’t tell players to embrace emotion during the regular season and do this. Maybe the ref didn’t realize Giannis had a tech. Who cares. Ejections should be reviewed pic.twitter.com/qhY7ULzfXW
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) November 9, 2023
Antetokounmpo was charged with a technical foul for taunting after staring down Stewart. It was Antetokounmpo's second technical foul of the game, which is an automatic ejection under NBA rules.
The foul — and ejection — drew confusion from ESPN announcer Doris Burke, who asked, "What did [Antetokounmpo] do?"
A frustrated Antetokounmpo briefly sat with fans in the front row before walking back to the locker room.
Giannis sits next to you in the middle of a game... what do you do? 😅 pic.twitter.com/NlKMyOawIe
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) November 9, 2023
The Pistons took full advantage of Antetokounmpo's absence. After trading buckets with the Bucks for a few minutes, the Pistons charged all the way back from their 13-point deficit. Detroit outscored Milwaukee 43-28 in the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter with a 95-90 lead.
Detroit kept up that pressure early in the fourth quarter and had a 10-point lead with 7:14 left on the clock. That's when new Bucks star Damian Lillard took over. Lillard scored 13 of his game-leading 34 points down the stretch to lead the Bucks to a narrow 120-118 win over Detroit.
After the contest, Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said he needed to be more vocal with the officials when teams are being physical with Antetokounmpo. Griffin added that he thought Antetokounmpo "moved on fairly quickly" following his one-handed dunk over Stewart. Griffin said he was "surprised" the play resulted in a second technical foul for Antetokounmpo but added, "That's for the league to decide."
If Antetokounmpo was upset about the technical and ejection, he didn't show it after the game. Antetokounmpo celebrated the victory by posting an image of him and Lillard on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
Great team win 💪🏾💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/nG2GSQGbxM
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) November 9, 2023
Antetokounmpo kept it brief, captioning the post with three words: "Great team win."
