Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo added to his accolades Wednesday, scoring a career-high 64 points against the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Forum to set a franchise single-game scoring record.

Antetokounmpo passed Michael Redd’s 57 points scored on Nov. 11, 2006, to set the new mark. The two-time NBA MVP went 20 of 28 from the field and 24 of 32 from the free-throw line in the Bucks’ 140-126 win.

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“He’s an unstoppable player,” Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said. “You can’t guard him one-on-one. And we’ve got some really good guys surrounding him, but at the end of the day, it’s all him — his talent, his ability, his will. He has an incredible will to win and he’ll do whatever it takes to win.

“Every point he got, he did it the right way. He made the right play. He attacked the rim. It was within our team and that just makes him a unique individual. He could probably do that every night, but he’s a team-first guy and I love the way our team rallied behind him. That’s what made it a special night.”

Antetokounmpo tallied his new career-high in scoring without making a single 3-point field goal, which made him the first player to score 60 points without making a 3 since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. They are the only two players with such a game in the last 30 years.

And while Antetokounmpo’s record-setting performance would have made it a night to remember, the action continued after the game.

Still words being exchanged after the game has gone final.#FearTheDeer #NBA

— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) December 14, 2023

Following the win, Antetokounmpo was under the belief that the Pacers had taken the game ball for the night and walked off with it.

In response, Antetokounmpo and a few other members of the team raced up the tunnel leading to the Pacers’ locker room and tried to chase them down for the basketball. After all parties were separated, both teams made their way to their respective locker rooms and the situation appeared to be resolved, but the postgame interviews made things even more confusing.

“What happened after the game was unfortunate,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “There was a misunderstanding about the game ball. It was Oscar Tshiebwe’s first NBA point. So we always get the game ball. We grabbed the ball and a couple of minutes later several of their players ended up in our hallway.”

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In that commotion, Carlisle also claimed that Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan was elbowed in the ribs.

Video from the Bucks telecast on Bally Sports Wisconsin shows that the Bucks appeared to end up in possession of the basketball.

Video from Bucks telecast clearly shows Bucks security got the game ball and handed it to a team staffer.

National crisis over.

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) December 14, 2023

Despite the existence of this video, when asked by The Athletic if he could confirm that he had Wednesday’s game ball, Antetkounmpo was not convinced.

“I have no idea,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’m not gonna lie. I have no idea. I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know. I have a ball, but I don’t know if it’s the game ball. It doesn’t feel like the game ball to me. It feels like a brand-new ball. I can tell, I played, what, 35 minutes today? I know how the game ball felt. The ball that I have, which I will take and I’ll give it to my mom, for sure, but I don’t know if it’s the game ball.

“But it’s okay. Lives continue. Actually, I don’t even have the game ball from — which it hurts me — I don’t have the game ball from Game 6 in the NBA Finals. I don’t have the game ball from that either. But it’s just unfortunate. I’ve never seen it. I’ve never seen this before. Like you can’t, I don’t know, I’m not even going to comment on that. I don’t know if I have the game ball, to be honest with you.”

How did Antetokounmpo put together a 64-point game?

While the Pacers were able to beat the Bucks in their first two meetings this season, they do not match up well with Antetokounmpo.

In the first matchup on Nov. 9, the Pacers pulled out a two-point comeback win, but Antetokounmpo scored 54 points on 19-of-25 shooting from the field and a 16 of 18 night at the free-throw line and nearly led the Bucks to a victory without Damian Lillard. In the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament last Thursday, Antetokounmpo put up 37 points (13-of-19 shooting), but the Bucks lost their way down the stretch and did not execute well.

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That was not a problem for the Bucks tonight as they fed Antetokounmpo repeatedly and watched him dominate against the Pacers. While the Pacers threw multiple defenders at Antetokounmpo, nothing worked as he was able to get to the rim at will and lived at the free-throw line as the Pacers had to resort to fouling as their final resort on Antetokounmpo drives. And while Antetokounmpo struggles from the charity stripe at times, his stroke was pure on Wednesday and he racked up points with ease.

Why were tensions high?

With 10 minutes, 18 seconds remaining, Antetokounmpo freed himself underneath the basket and Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith wrapped Antetokounmpo up around the shoulders, a foul that eventually sent Antetokounmpo to the floor. This foul did not please Antetokounmpo’s teammates.

Bucks forward Bobby Portis immediately tried to get in Nesmith’s face, as did point guard Cam Payne, and officials needed to separate both teams. After reviewing the incident, the officials deemed Nesmith’s foul to be a flagrant 1 and assessed technicals to Portis and Nesmith. A few minutes later, Portis was ejected because officials thought he was talking too much after drawing a foul on the Pacers.

From there, things only got more complicated.

With 5:54 remaining, trailing 119-102, the Pacers took all of their starters except Bruce Brown out of the game. Antetokounmpo, who already had 51 points, remained in the game. By the time he exited the game with 3:24 remaining, Antetokounmpo had set a new career-high and beat the Bucks’ franchise record with 58 points and the Bucks led, 131-112.

Less than 90 seconds later though, the Pacers had cut the Bucks lead down to 10 points (131-121) with 2:04 remaining and Antetokounmpo and the Bucks’ starters returned to the game. Antetokounmpo quickly added six points to his tally, including a thunderous one-handed dunk with 26.1 seconds remaining.

Does Antetokounmpo have the game ball?

The video from the Bucks’ telecast made it seem as though the Bucks, as an organization, definitely got their hands on the game ball, but Antetokounmpo remains convinced that wasn’t the game ball. So, this may end up being a mystery that goes unsolved.

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(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)