Bucks’ Doc Rivers calls out officiating double-standard after hard Draymond Green foul

The Milwaukee Bucks’ road loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night wasn’t just defined by hot shooting and momentum swings, it was also shaped by frustration over how the game was officiated, particularly surrounding a physical sequence involving Giannis Antetokounmpo and Draymond Green.

After the game, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers was asked about the sequence and the broader tone of the officiating. Rivers didn’t hold back, expressing disbelief that the play was never reviewed.

“I thought, in the first half, we didn’t do a good job of it,” said Rivers, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “But listen, I also thought veteran teams like this get away with things. How you don’t look at the flagrant foul is ridiculous, right? And listen, I’m a big Draymond Green fan before I say that. And the reason I am is because he’s such an instigator, all right? But they called a tech in the first half on Scoot (Porter)? After Draymond Green’s waving his hands at refs, yelling at refs? But then they call a tech on Scoot?…Clear flagrant foul. It was impact. They didn’t even look. They didn’t even look.”

Midway through the second quarter, tensions escalated when Green and Antetokounmpo exchanged physical plays. Antetokounmpo was whistled for a foul more than 30 feet from the basket after making contact with Green.

Giannis barrels over Draymond Green for the easy two
pic.twitter.com/7HVrgOn8iU

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 8, 2026

Later in the quarter, Green responded with a hard elbow to Antetokounmpo’s face on a layup attempt, sending him crashing to the baseline, a play that was ruled a common foul and not reviewed for a flagrant.

Here was the foul that Giannis Antetokounmpo thought should have been reviewed for a flagrant: https://t.co/KqvDxAHnjn pic.twitter.com/eTcriTNAtx

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) January 8, 2026

“And then they, all three, come out at halftime and said, ‘Man, we blew that. That was a flagrant. We should have looked.’ My only question, ‘Well, what were you looking at? I mean, you called a foul, so you saw something.’ It’s really frustrating there,” the coach added. “So, what I’m saying is, in our defense, they say that, that’s frustrating. And then Scoot’s saying, ‘I barely say anything to the ref and I got a tech.’ I’m hearing this guy cuss at ’em and nothing. So that’s frustrating.”

The fallout from that stretch proved costly. Antetokounmpo, still visibly fired up, was hit with a delay-of-game warning and soon picked up his third foul after Jimmy Butler III attacked the rim. With Giannis on the bench, Golden State ripped off an 11-0 run, turning a tight game into a double-digit halftime lead.

The Warriors ultimately rode elite perimeter shooting, 18 made threes, to a 120-113 win, despite Antetokounmpo posting 34 points and 10 rebounds in just 31 minutes. Milwaukee briefly made a push early in the second half but never fully recovered from the momentum swing created late in the second quarter.

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