The Bucks won a anonymous party, of which it seemed that nobody was aware. They beat the Kings (133-127) and imposed logic: the champion, on his court and now at 30-19 against a rival made some foxes, pending what Y What sells in the winter market, with eight defeats in ten games and an 18-30 record that distances him from even the very cheap zone of play in from West. The Bucks, yes, they had a lot of merit because they played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, obviously the main player on a good casualty list. Although the Kings were without De’Aaron Fox. The fact is that he finally won the one that would win nine times out of ten such a match.
And he did it based on triples. Against a Kings defense that was always a second late, the Bucks went 21/42 from 3-point range that helped them overcome their bad start (27-35 in the first quarter) and the absence of Giannis. In the last quarter, when the Kings had options to turn what was 111-100 with six minutes to go, two triples by Pat Connaughton (15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and one , the definitive one, by Khris Middleton (for 124-118) at the last minute border. The shooting guard, as almost always when Antetokounmpo is not there, put the team on his shoulder: 34+6+5, 5/7 in triples. Jrue Holiday finished at 26+5+4 and the trickle of points from the whole team (20 Divincenzo off the bench) helped a Bucks that covered the record, with many points, against a Kings led by Tyrese Haliburton (24+6+ 12) and Harrison Barnes (29+6+3).
But yes, it was a party that seemed out of place. First because, in parallel, America held its breath with the Packers-49ers in the NFL playoffs that was being played at the legendary Lambeau Field. Two historic under the snow in a duel between California and Wisconsin… of much more importance basically at all levels than this Bucks (Wisconsin) vs Kings (California). And, furthermore, because the share of attention that was placed on the Bucks was for totally different reasons. Just 24 hours earlier, the champion’s victory against the Bulls had been marred by Grayson Allen’s terrible foul (a player with a history of complicated actions since his days at Duke) to Alex Caruso, an unnecessary and very dangerous action in which unbalanced in the air to the guard of the Bulls, whose coach, Billy Donovan, assured after the game that he could have left his career in that fall. To make matters worse, the Bucks woke up with a post on their networks in which the image was, precisely, an Allen who did not play against the Kings due to hip problems. And, in the middle of the scrubbing, the terrible news arrived that definitely fanned the flames: Caruso needs to undergo surgery for an injury to his right wrist, which he unnaturally supported in his ugly fall, and You will be at least six to eight weeks off.
The rage against Allen, of whom Caruso said that he had not even approached to see how he was after the action that cost him the expulsion, traveled throughout the NBA environment, from social networks to offices. The Bulls showed their outrage to a League that now has to see what sanction is imposed on Allen, the public enemy number 1 Caruso’s agent, Greg Lawrence, asked for an example: “I hope the NBA sees that not only was this a dangerous, dirty and unnecessary action, but that it was carried out by a player who has a long history of situations like this. It was a low blow, a free action to a player who could not protect himself and that ended with a broken bone and a trip to the operating room. I hope that the League demonstrates with its punishment that it wants to send a message that there is no place in the NBA for things like thatAccording to journalist Adrian Wojnarowski, Caruso’s time off will be taken into account as a factor when sanctioning Allen.
Mike Budenholzer, the coach of a Bucks in the eye of the hurricane, tried to protect his player before the game against the Kings: “I’ve been thinking about all this all day and it’s something I have to review well with Grayson. Above all I have to see how he is, how he is doing. I can only talk about the time he has been in our team and he has been an important piece for us. He is competitive, he does many things for the team to win. The locker room adores him, he is very loved. The competition is tough and unfortunate things happen in games. I know that Caruso is going to be out for a while and I feel very sorry for him. I don’t wish something like that on any of our opponents, on anyone. But Grayson didn’t do anything malicious and the way the locker room is worried about him shows how he behaves on our team. This has been very unfortunate, I hope Caruso is back soon, I look forward to competing against him and the Bulls again soon.”
The Cavaliers do not stop adding
Just 700 kilometers from Wisconsin, from the light Bucks victory and heavy defeat of the Packers, the Cavs aired (94-87) a Thunder that came from playing in Charlotte on Friday and had been immersed in an odyssey motivated by the cold and bad weather conditions. The team arrived at their hotel in the downtown from Cleveland to eight in the morning, and hours later it was preparing far from what could be considered optimal conditions. So that’s how it went: 87 points, 38% shooting, 29% 3-point shooting and 56% free throw shooting. The Cavs stayed 6/27 from the three-point line and a horrible 18/35 on free throws, but in the third quarter they amassed an advantage from their defense (74-57) that the Thunder did not recover, although they got to six points in the last quarter.
Darius Garland, without much efficiency and with many losses, finished with 21 points and 11 assists, knocking on the doors of the All Star and feeding Jarrett Allen (14 + 13) and an Evan Mobley (15 + 17) who has the Rookie of the Year as tied as the award can be in January. Lauri Markkanen suffered a sprained ankle, another casualty for the Ohioans, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29+9+6) was the best of the Thunder who have lost eleven of their last twelve games and are 14-32, on their way to to be the worst team in the West. The Cavs are 28-19, fifth in the East despite all the misfortunes they continue to accumulate, with the same defeats as the Bucks (fourth) and a game and a half ahead of the play in.
#Bucks #win #fire