Seeing Deandre Ayton scream with rage as he did after the final buzzer, it is clear that this meeting had a special flavor for him and his young teammates.
The latter welcomed for the first time since his transfer to Milwaukee the best scorer in the history of the franchise, Damian Lillard. And despite the gap in results and ambition between the two teams, the locals are not deprived of spoiling this return, in a game which took on the air of a benchmark match for them.
Ayton, in fact, confirmed his current good form (20 points and 11 rebounds) by aligning the “jumpers” at mid-distance in front of Brook Lopez in the last quarter. Alongside him, Malcolm Brogdon (14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists), who also played against his first team in the league, shared his experience in managing the game.
Jerami Grant (18 points) and a few contributors from the bench, including Scoot Henderson (15 points), fueled the Blazers' attack to put the opposing defense in difficulty, which again struggled to control everything. But it was Anfernee Simons who had the final word thanks to a “eurostep” and a “floater” in front of Malik Beasley 20 seconds from time to which the visitors were unable to respond.
The latter, carried by their quartet Antetokounmpo – Lillard – Middleton – Lopez, all at 19 points or more, nevertheless made a big effort in the final moments to come back. In contact with the Blazers throughout the evening, the Bucks, penalized by some blunders from Giannis Antetokounmpo with ball in hand at the start of the last quarter, found themselves 10 points behind 10 minutes from the end ( 101-91).
With Lopez's long-distance skill, the Greek's activity near the circle, Lillard's big dunk one minute from the end, big defensive efforts in front of Ayton or even a dive from Malik Beasley to recover a ball, Milwaukee was very strong income. But Damian Lillard failing to get the ball on the last ball and Brook Lopez missing the target, the visitors ended up losing.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– A “standing ovation” for Damian Lillard. Unsurprisingly, the Bucks leader was applauded for a very long time by his former audience when he was presented. Provoking enthusiasm with each basket scored, the ex-Blazers player had difficulty hide your emotion seeing the tribute video reserved for him, very focused on his impact off the field. “ Everything I said about my journey, my feelings about Portland and being there was authentic. Life is complicated sometimes, with difficult decisions to make, even if you risk hurting yourself and the people you care about “, he declared before the meeting.
– The Bucks in the sights of the Knicks. With this second defeat in a row suffered by Doc Rivers' men, Milwaukee keeps 2nd place in the East, five wins behind the Celtics, but is seriously under threat from the Knicks who are coming back very strongly behind. With the best current series in the league at eight wins in a row, the New Yorkers (31v-17d) are only one victory behind the Bucks (32v-16d).
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
