A wild altercation left Bucks center Brook Lopez bleeding from his face in the final seconds of Milwaukee’s 133-124 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
It all started when Lopez didn’t appear happy with Kings forward Trey Lyles for a hard foul on Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the fourth quarter.
With about 15 seconds left to play and the Bucks up by nine points, Antetokounmpo began dribbling the ball slowly to run out the clock.
As he dribbled past half court, Lyles reached in and fouled Antetokounmpo before shoving him.
That’s when Lopez approached Lyles and they got in each other’s faces.
Things escalated quickly as the two got tangled up and locked arms.
In video replays of the incident, Lopez can be seen with a hand grabbing his throat while players and coaches from both teams intervened to calm down the situation.
The altercation spilled into the scorers table at the Golden 1 Center, where officials were eventually able to separate the group.
Lopez and Lyles were both assessed technical fouls and ejected.
While team personnel escorted Lopez away from the melee, the veteran center appeared to yell “f–k that” as blood fell down his face.
Lopez appeared to be bleeding from the corner of his left eye.
Following a brief delay, the Bucks ran out the clock and kept their nine-point win to snap a three-game winning streak for Sacramento.
Lopez later explained that he was backing his teammate.
“I thought what that guy did to Giannis was cheap,” Lopez told Sideline Sources of Lyles.
“He didn’t need to do any of that stuff. He stepped up to Giannis a little bit as he walked off and I didn’t like that. I had my guy’s back like I would have any of my teammates.”
Kings coach Mike Brown said he wasn’t sure what led to the scrum.
“I don’t know what happened, but we ain’t taking no s–t from nobody. Trust me on that,” Brown said, per the Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson.
“And they’re all going to have each other’s backs in there.”
Lopez finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 46 points and 12 rebounds.
Lyles finished with six points and seven rebounds off the bench.
“It’s unfortunate. I think it was a great game,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of the altercation, via 247’s Cameron Salerno.
“I was so impressed with Sacramento and the way they play. I’m not going to say anything about what did or didn’t happen.”
The Bucks visit the Suns on Tuesday, while the Kings play the Nets in Brooklyn on Thursday.