09 November 2023 , 16:15
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Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected from the game during the win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
The Bucks recorded a 120-118 win over the Pistons to move to 5-2 for the 2023/24 NBA season and up to second in the Eastern Conference. However, Milwaukee had to play much of the game without one of their star players.
Antetokounmpo was handed a second technical foul with 9:00 remaining in the third quarter. After scoring a dunk, the forward appeared to celebrate in front of a Pistons defender, where he was given a technical foul for taunting.
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The first technical that Antetokounmpo received came in the second quarter, when he wanted a foul and appealed to the referee. Crew chief Rodney Mott explained the reasons behind each technical handed to Antetokounmpo, which led to the Bucks star being ejected from the game.
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"On the play [first technical], Giannis drives to the basket and he thinks he gets fouled," Mott said via the pool report on . "Then he approaches the game official and uses profanity, which is an unsportsmanlike technical foul and was issued at that time.
Mott added: "After the dunk Giannis turns to his opponent and taunts him and a taunting technical foul was called, an unsportsmanlike. And he was ejected from the game, per rule, because two unsportsmanlike technical fouls, you are ejected from the game."
Antetokounmpo's dunk took his total points for the game up to 15 from 22 minutes. After scoring the bucket, the Milwaukee star looked stunned after being handed a technical and was helped off the court by one of his teammates as he attempted to confront the referee about the decision.
For the remainder of the game, Antetokounmpo was forced to sit on the sidelines and hope his team could claim a victory. The Bucks led 73-60 at the time of Antetokounmpo's ejection but were needed Damian Lillard’s heroics in the fourth quarter.
Detroit held a 10-point lead over the Bucks with just 6:00 remaining in the fourth quarter. Lillard scored 34 points in the game, including 18 in the final period, to help secure the victory at Fiserv Forum.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was handed two technical fouls and ejected from Wednesday's game in Milwaukee (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)Milwaukee head coach Adrian Griffin admitted he was surprised to see the referees eject Antetokounmpo from the game.
“It’s an emotional game. He made a phenomenal play,” said Griffin. “It was exciting, emotional and I thought he moved on fairly quickly. So, I was surprised with the second technical, but that’s up to the league to decide.”
The Bucks went into the season as one of the favourites for the NBA title, after winning the Eastern Conference last season. A 5-2 start to the year will now continue with back-to-back road games starting against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday followed by the Orlando Magic on Saturday.