Center Brook Lopez had the back of star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the Bucks’ road win over the Kings on Tuesday.
Antetokounmpo was dribbling out the clock and was fouled and shoved by Kings forward Trey Lyles. Lopez reacted angrily.
“The game was over. Giannis is dribbling out the clock. I don’t know what that guy was doing messing with Giannis, doing too much,” Lopez said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Like I said, the game was already over. So, I just wanted to go out there and protect my guy.”
Antetokounmpo added that type of fire was out of character for Lopez, but that he appreciated it.
“I just saw Brook being upset and he is usually is not that upset,” Antetokounmpo said, via Owczarski. “He was yelling ‘don’t do that again, don’t push him like that.’ Then I realized … he pushed me in my back. Obviously I appreciate Brook having my back and that’s my guy, not just on the court, off the court, for life he’s my guy.”
- The Bucks have a decision to make on center Meyers Leonard, who’s second 10-day contract expired on Tuesday. Milwaukee will either need to sign him for the rest of the season or let him return to free agency.
- Coach Mike Budenholzer preferred not to talk about the skirmish at the end of the game. “It’s unfortunate,” he told reporters. “I think it was a great game. I was so impressed by Sacramento and they way they play. I’m not going to say anything about what did or didn’t happen.”
- Either way, Lopez indicate he always appreciated Sacramento’s crowd. “It was a really fun environment to play in,” he said. “Sacramento always has great fans, great team this year. You get the cowbells and everything like that and all stuff I remember. It was a really fun atmosphere.”
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