When you are the reigning champions, like the Milwaukee Bucks are, you have the right to behave with certain confidence when you are on the court.
As the most recent owners of the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, the Bucks can always default to that as their default response. However, they can act even more self-assured in any single game when they are also dominating their opponent.
That is exactly what happened against the Bulls on Tuesday evening, but the Bucks needed to remind Chicago big man Tristan Thompson.
When the game was almost over, the two teams got scrappy when Thompson refused to let go over Serge Ibaka’s shorts after boxing out for a rebound.
Tristan Thompson and Serge Ibaka got in each other's face after this play. pic.twitter.com/ZOTyRTNrYY
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 23, 2022
Ibaka and Thompson got in each other’s faces and it didn’t take long until both of their respective teammates sprinted over to try to stick up for their squad.
But the most interesting moment of the squabble came after things began to cool off a bit and the skirmish devolved from physicality to bickering.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the older brother of reigning NBA Finals MVP and two-time NBA MVP winner Giannis Antetokounmpo, attempted to de-escalate the situation.
Thanasis pointing at the scoreboard asking Tristan Thompson why he’s fighting down 33 😂😂#Bucks #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/hRtepsp2jq
— Tony Clements (@TonyCMKE) March 23, 2022
Thankfully, things didn’t get out of hand, partially thanks to the fact that Antetokounmpo’s strategy was laugh-out-loud caliber funny. He simply pointed to the scoreboard to remind Thompson that the Bulls were down by more than 30 points.
Antetokounmpo is absolutely correct in that there is nothing to fight about when your team is already getting annihilated. This thing is over. Get ready to hit the ice baths and call it a night.
For both teams, the playoffs are coming soon and it is better to save your energy and your pent-up scrappiness for that environment than to waste it during the tail end of a blowout.
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