Thanasis Antetokounmpo Ejected in Blowout for Headbutting Blake Griffin

Tensions flared late in the Celtics’ rout over the Bucks.

The Celtics dominated the Bucks 140–99 on Thursday night, but even the large margin of victory didn’t stop tensions flaring between the two Eastern Conference stalwarts. 

With Boston up by 44 points in the fourth quarter, Milwaukee’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Boston’s Blake Griffin had a physical play on one end of the floor, with Griffin seemingly unhappy by the lack of a foul call. When the ball came back down the floor, Antetokounmpo had the ball under the basket and Griffin came down with a hard foul as the Bucks forward attempted a layup.

Antetokounmpo wasn’t happy with it, and he reacted by headbutting Griffin.

Griffin earned a flagrant foul and Antetokounmpo was ejected from the game with just 1:25 minutes remaining on the clock.

a look at what led to Blake Griffin flagrant found and Thanasis ejection 👀 pic.twitter.com/WdXEa3Cthp

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 31, 2023

Here’s a closer look at Antetokounmpo’s “headbutt.”

Thanasis headbutt = Thanasis ejection 👋 pic.twitter.com/xDCkpHIeRt

— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) March 31, 2023

Griffin couldn’t help but laugh at the situation, especially with the Celtics up by more than 40. On the sidelines, his teammate Jaylen Brown even offered his face mask to Griffin for “protection.”

Jaylen really gave Blake his mask 🤣🤣🤣@FCHWPO @blakegriffin23 pic.twitter.com/Gwn9AckWP3

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 31, 2023

The Celtics finished with Jayson Tatum scoring 40 points and Brown scoring 30. 

If the top two teams in the Eastern Conference meet again in the postseason, look out for some potential bad blood.