Sentiments flared late Monday night when the Sacramento Kings lost 133–124 to the Milwaukee Bucks between forward Trey Liles and center Brook Lopez. On Wednesday, the NBA published release with a detailed description of both punishments.
Lyles will be suspended for one game when the Kings go to play the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Lopez was fined $25,000.
Things turned chaotic when “Lyles fouled and then shoved Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo in the back, according to a league statement. Lopez escalated the situation by confronting Lyles. Lyles further escalated the situation by punching Lopez in the face, grabbing and holding Lopez by the neck. region.”
The brief does not mention that Antetokounmpo dribbles in Lyles’ path with 15.4 seconds left in the game, with Milwaukee leading by eight points.
Lopez was already furious before the fight. Bleeding from the left eye caused the game to be stopped. five minutes before the end of the fourth quarter. He appeared to be cursing and yelling on his way to the bench to work on the injury. The game was definitely physical, but it’s not clear what contact led to the cut. It took everyone, even media workers, to keep Lopez and Liles apart as soon as they clashed.
Lyles received two technical fouls and was sent off after the chaos. Lopez received one technical foul and was sent off.
After the game, Antetokounmpo said he had no idea what had happened. He also told reporters in the locker room that he had already promised to refund Lopez the inevitable fine, admitting that Lopez was protecting him.
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer decided to simply call the late game brawl between Trey Liles and Brook Lopez “unhappy”.
In recent games, Lyles has seen his role expand from the bench, and on Monday night he told reporters that Antetokounmpo had just pushed him to the limit.
“There was nothing personal about it,” he said. “But when a bigger guy steps on me, I’m not the type to talk. It takes me a long time to get out of character.”
Kings All-Star De’Aaron Fox was blunt when asked about the incident. “Giannis can just dribble, that’s all he had to do and nothing would have happened,” he said. said.
By finishing third in the Western Conference, the Kings should make the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. At the same time, the whole team strives to demand respect from the opposing teams and even from the judges. Head coach Mike Brown illustrated this in December when he was kicked out after defeating the Toronto Raptors.
Brown didn’t mince words about Monday’s quarrel.
“We don’t take [expletive] from no one. Trust me on this.” He said. “If you think that we are going to start something, then we are not. But we’re going to stand up for ourselves and each other.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
