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Tag: en/basketball/nba/milwaukee-bucks

  • Bucks make 25 three-pointers, beat Heat 138-122 without Giannis

    Bucks make 25 three-pointers, beat Heat 138-122 without Giannis

    Brook Lopez scored 25 points, Jrue Holiday added 24 and the hot-shooting Milwaukee Bucks withstood Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence while trouncing the Miami Heat 138-122 on Wednesday night, tying their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.

    The Bucks went 25 of 49 on 3-point attempts to tie the NBA record for 3-point baskets in a postseason game. Pat Connaughton, who didn’t even play in Game 1, added a playoff career-high 22 points while going 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.

    Antetokounmpo remained out for Milwaukee after leaving the Bucks’ 130-117 Game 1 loss early in the second quarter with a bruised lower back. The two-time MVP suffered the injury on a hard fall after getting fouled late in the first period during a drive to the basket.

    “We’ll continue to monitor him and expect for him to improve and still continue to be optimistic that soon he’ll be ready to play,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game.

    The Bucks also were missing guard Wesley Matthews, who had strained his right calf in Game 1. The Heat didn’t have Tyler Herro, who broke his right hand in Game 1 and likely won’t return this season unless Miami reaches the NBA Finals.

    For at least one night, the Bucks didn’t miss Antetokounmpo at all as they capitalized on a dramatic turnaround in 3-point shooting. In Game 1, the Bucks went 11 of 45 on 3-point attempts while the Heat were 15 of 25. This time, the Bucks made more than half their 3-point shots in a record-tying performance.

    Joe Ingles scored 17 points for the Bucks and was 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. Khris Middleton and Grayson Allen added 16 points apiece. Bobby Portis had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

    Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for the Heat, who host Game 3 on Saturday.

    The Bucks initially thrived by relying on the same formula they used the last time they played a home postseason game without Antetokounmpo. They gave the ball to Lopez early and often.

    Lopez, who scored just 10 points in Game 1, had 14 by the end of the first quarter Wednesday. During Milwaukee’s 2021 title run, Lopez had scored a playoff career-high 34 points to help the Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks 123-112 in Game 5 of the East finals while Antetokounmpo was out with a hyperextended left knee.

    The success of Lopez inside opened things up for everyone on the perimeter.

    Connaughton sank a 3-pointer that capped an 11-0 run to put Milwaukee ahead 62-41 with 5:29 left in the second quarter. Butler ended that spurt by making two free throws, but the Bucks scored the next 13 points – including seven from Ingles – to grab a 32-point lead.

    The Bucks led by as many as 36 in the third quarter. The Heat outscored the Bucks 37-20 in the fourth quarter to make the final score somewhat respectable. TIP-INS

    Heat: Duncan Robinson replaced Herro in the starting lineup and had 14 points. … After not playing at all in Game 1, Victor Oladipo had seven points by halftime Wednesday. He finished with 15.

    Bucks: Jae Crowder received a flagrant 1 foul late in the third quarter for grabbing Butler’s right leg as the Heat forward was going up for a shot near the basket. … Milwaukee had gone 11-8 in regular-season games that Antetokounmpo missed. … Lopez received the NBA Cares Community Assist award for the month of March because of his support of youth literacy. The NBA will donate $10,000 to the Milwaukee Public Library Foundation.



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  • Giannis Antetokounmpo shares he was ready to retire from the NBA in 2020 even before becoming a champion 'I don't care'

    Giannis Antetokounmpo shares he was ready to retire from the NBA in 2020 even before becoming a champion 'I don't care'

    Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready for another playoff run with the Milwaukee Bucks after he led the franchise to the top of the Eastern Conference standings, assuring home court advantage all the way up to a potential spot in the NBA Finals.

    Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted to stay home with his family

    Giannis Antetokounmpo has been regarded as one of the best NBA players for several years now, but the “Greek Freak” spoke to Lori Nickel from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and explained it’s not easy as he was about to quit basketball in 2020.

    “In 2020, I was … ready to walk away from the game.”

    By that point, the Bucks hadn’t won a title and Antetokounmpo even talked with the front office of the franchise about where his mind was.

    “If something doesn’t make me happy, I don’t do it. I don’t want to do it. I’m just going to stay home, stay with my kids, stay with my family and try to be happy. I don’t care.”

    At that moment Giannis had signed the largest contract in NBA history just a few months before, saying many people were thinking he was crazy because they thought that he was attempting to keep the money.

    “Mannnnn, you can take that money and shove it into your…,” the Greek talent explained.



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  • Giannis Antetokounmpo at serious risk of missing the All-Star Game with a nasty wrist injury in win vs. Bulls

    Giannis Antetokounmpo at serious risk of missing the All-Star Game with a nasty wrist injury in win vs. Bulls

    Giannis Antetokounmpo is destined to be one of the two captains in the NBA All-Star Game to be held next Sunday at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, but after Thursday’s game in which the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Chicago Bulls 112-100, that status is at risk.

    And the “Greek Freak” went out to not return in the second quarter of the game at the United Center, when trying to block a layup by Coby White fell hard to the basketball stand bending his wrist and leaving immediately in a clear gesture of pain.

    Giannis talks the one talent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn’t have

    How serious is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury?

    After preliminary tests it was determined that Antetokounmpo would not return to the game and was diagnosed as a sprained right wrist although according to coach Mike Budenholzer, fortunately for the two-time regular season MVP, the results were encouraging.

    “We’re hopeful, the X-ray was clean,” Budenholzer said. “He’s got a sprain. We’ll just, I think, see how he feels tomorrow, see how he feels the next few days and continue to evaluate it.”

    In the post-game press conference, the coach of the 2020-2021 NBA season champions added that he had no idea if Giannis will be able to travel to the home of the Utah Jazz for the aforementioned All-Star Game.

    Will Giannis Antetokounmpo miss the NBA All-Star Game?

    What is known is that even though he may not play, as the captain and most voted player in the Eastern Conference, Antetokounmpo will pick his team’s players an hour before Sunday’s anticipated game.

    Before leaving the game against the Bulls, the “Greek Freak” became the player with the most assists in Bucks history by reaching 3,273 in his career and surpassing Paul Pressey, who played in Milwaukee from 1982 to 1990.



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  • Antetokounmpo manages an NBA record no player has achieved in 40 years

    Antetokounmpo manages an NBA record no player has achieved in 40 years

    Just a couple of days after recording 45 points, 22 rebounds and seven assists in the Milwaukee Bucks‘ loss to the Chicago Bulls, Giannis Antetokounmpo produced another extraordinary display against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

    This time Giannis registered 43 points, 20 rebounds and five assists to lead his time to their first win in five games after defeating Minnesota 123-114.

    With his figures against the Timberwolves, the Greek Freak became the first NBA player to manage at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in back-to-back games since Moses Malone did so in 1982.

    With his five assists, Giannis joins Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only players in history capable of recording two 40+20+5 in a row. Chamberlain did so five times, most recently on January 6-7, 1966, and Baylor did it once.

    “It’s a great compliment to be around those guys,” said Antetokounmpo.

    “I just want to win games so I just tried to go out there and do whatever I can to push myself to the limit.”

    Giannis is also only the seventh player in history to record at least 40 points, 20 rebounds and five assists while shooting 60 percent from the field. Since the NBA merged with the ABA in 1976/77, only Charles Barkley and the Bucks player have done it more than once.

    “It’s what we’ve been talking about,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said.

    “His force, his determination, his will, attacking, attacking, attacking … it’s what he’s built for.”

    In the game against Minnesota, Bobby Portis finished with 22 points for the Bucks, while Anthony Edwards scored 30 and Luka Garza recorded 16 for a Wolves team that played without Rudy Gobert, who missed out due to illness. The Timberwolves have now lost five consecutive games.



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