Team USA had no problem with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece on Saturday morning, or at least not in terms of outplaying them. The Americans cruised to a 69-53 win in their second-round matchup in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, but there was a bit of drama involving Jaylen Brown and Giannis at the end of the game. 

With just a few minutes remaining, Giannis’ brother, Thanasis Antetokounmpo committed a hard, unnecessary foul on Harrison Barnes. 

Barnes was thankfully uninjured, but Team USA was understandably upset about the play, and after the game multiple players made it clear. In particular, Brown had words with Giannis, reportedly telling him to “check his brother.” 

That led to a scrum involving multiple members of each team, though things never really got out of control. In the end, Khris Middleton arrived to play peacemaker, pushing his Bucks teammate away. Team USA then stayed on the floor until the entire Greece team had made their way to the locker room to prevent any further nonsense. 

After the game, Brown admitted to having words with the reigning MVP, but didn’t want to make a big deal out of the interaction. “Yeah, I said something to Giannis. Well, Giannis said something to me,” Brown said. “But we’ve got bigger fish to fry. So we move on.”

Brown’s Celtics teammate, Marcus Smart, indicated that much of the frustration on Team USA’s side came from the fact that there was no apology from Thanasis. “The [no apology] escalated it,” Smart said. “At that moment, you’ve got to take it for what it is. Regardless of whether you feel like it was wrong or right, it was wrong.”

Team USA’s next matchup will be their final second-round contest against Brazil. That game is set for Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET.