Getty Images Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks against Blake Griffin #23 of the Detroit Pistons
Last night the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Detroit Pistons, 127-103. This victory gave the Bucks their 13th consecutive win as they now boast a 19-3 record. They now hold the longest active win-streak in the NBA so far. The Bucks have not had this good of a start to a season since the 1973-74 season.
Tensions got high during the game as Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Pistons’ star Blake Griffin went at it all game long. Tempers started to flare in the second quarter when Griffin threw an elbow at Antetokounmpo. The Bucks’ star got up from the floor and confronted Griffin as their teammates came to break the two apart. But, tensions didn’t end there.
Giannis didn’t like that Blake Griffin elbow. t.co/jt09Hi676i
Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Blake Griffin
Blake’s elbow throw was just the beginning of what was to come between him and Giannis. The game got uglier in the third quarter when Antetokounmpo was being guarded by Griffin and missed one of his threes from the corner. Griffin grabbed the ball and Antetokounmpo reached for an attempted steal. Griffin didn’t like the aggressiveness and the two were seen exchanging nasty looks. The reigning MVP got him back though. As Griffin was driving to the basket the Greek freak came from behind and swatted the ball away from the hoop.
Things became extremely physical between the two when Antetokounmpo was going to the basket with about 8:15 left in the third and was fouled by Griffin and Bruce Brown Jr. As he was still on all fours, Griffin gave him a little push and kocked the Bucks’ superstar completely down. Griffin then walked over the reigning MVP. The players then all got involved and were seen getting in each other’s faces.
In a post game interview posted by ESPN’s Get Up, Antetokounmpo commented on Griffin’s aggressiveness.
“There’s going to be a lot of teams that are going to come out and try to be physical with me — try to hit me, knock me down to the floor. I just got to keep my composure. At first I was talking back, trying to let him know that this is more than basketball. We can stop playing basketball and we can fight. At the end of the day, my teammates won me the game, my teammates want me to keep my head in the game,” Antetokounmpo said.
Antetokounmpo got the last laugh though as he closed out the game with 35 points and nine boards. Griffin finished with 16 points, three assists and 10 rebounds. The Greek freak is currently averaging 31 points, 13.2 boards and 5.5 assists while Griffin is averaging 18.8 points, 5.2 boards and 3.3 assists per game.
Antetokounmpo is currently favored to win this year’s NBA MVP award for the second consecutive year. The Bucks will play tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Clippers. The last time these two teams played, Clippers’ dynamic duo, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were sidelined. Leonard is the reigning NBA Finals MVP so fans were extremely disappointed that they didn’t get to see Leonard and Antetokounmpo play against each other. Hopefully tomorrow, fans will get to see reigning NBA MVP go up against reigning NBA Finals MVP.