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Jamal CollierESPN
CHICAGO – In the days leading up to the team’s first road game in Chicago, the Milwaukee Bucks took every opportunity possible to shower Grayson Allen With boos.
They booed Allen as he walked on the team bus. They booed him as he reached the lobby of their team’s hotel. They even booed him during photo sessions and when Allen touched the ball in practice.
So when Allen hit his highs in a back-to-back playoff game 3 and 4 this weekend to help Milwaukee take a 3-1 play-off lead over Chicago, the bench enjoyed booing him all the way.
“They’re having a lot of fun doing it,” Allen said with a laugh after scoring 27 points from the bench in the Bucks’ 119-95 win on Sunday afternoon. “I think it’s really funny. They kind of turned it into something fun. It makes hearing that out there during the game a lot easier too because they think it’s so funny.”
Game five will be Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
The Bucks began taunting their teammate earlier this season as soon as they heard the reaction Allen received every time he touched the ball during their first team game in Chicago in March. Allen becomes public enemy No. 1 for basketball fans in Chicago after his blatant foul on a Bulls guard Alex Caruso During a match on January 21, he fractured Caruso’s wrist, forcing him to miss two months.
On Sunday, Allen said he tried to reach out to Caruso to apologize after the incident, but the two never called. The Bulls underestimated any hostility toward Allen prior to the series, but fans at United Center didn’t let it go easily, responding loudly every time Allen approached the scorer’s table or touched the ball in every game this season.
Even if he’s built up a reputation as a villain in Chicago, Allen insisted after Sunday’s game that he doesn’t feed on such backlash.
“It’s not naturally comfortable for me,” Allen said. “I’m really on point now, any time I go out and play basketball, I remind myself just to get out and enjoy this… I’m feeding off. I won’t go out looking for it.”
This did not stop Allen’s classmates from enjoying it.
star pax Giannis Antikonmo Allen suggested a frame for a picture from Game 3 where the Bucks seat in the background booing Allen as he heads to the free-throw line after the conversion and 1.
“He played so amazing, maybe we should boo him more,” Antetokounmpo said with a smile after the match. “Maybe we should have booed the Milwaukee fans…Nah, we wouldn’t.”
added guard Jrue holiday: “When we booed him during the match, and he really started to play, I think we stuck with him.”
Leading all scorers in Friday’s game three with 22 points, Allen was even better on Sunday afternoon.
Allen went 10 of 12 off the field Sunday, including 6 of 7 from a 3-point range, to edge off the Chicago bench himself 27-17. He became the first Bucks player to score 25 points and send off six 3s in a playoff game in team history and the first Bucks player with at least 25 points off the bench since then Tim Thomas in 2003, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. Allen even played in defense, collecting three steals and stopping Chicago’s 3-of-8 shot when he was the primary defender.
Allen bounced back after being 0 for 4 of 3 to start the series in the first two games. His performances this weekend helped the Bucks survive the striker’s loss khris middletonwho will miss the rest of the first-round series due to a sprained MCL in his left knee.
“He’s kind of calm, but confident,” coach Bucks Mike Budenholzer He said about Allen. “I think this is a self-confident group, a group that sees a player who can help them and values their competitiveness. He is just calm, not bulls—, and comes to play. I think our guys gravitate towards that kind of mentality. She definitely was a good fit.” .
By the time Allen scored the match between free throw attempts with 5:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, the boos from the crowd at United Center turned from full-throated to tepid.
Chicago had waited five years for a playoff game at home here, and fans rewarded a non-competitive basketball weekend. The Bulls averaged 230-176 points in their two home games and should win Wednesday in Milwaukee to extend their season.
“You have to give [Allen] Credit, ‘The Bull Keeper Zach Lavigne She said. “He hits the shots…we obviously know what happened [with the Caruso injury]. At the end of the day, it’s basketball, too. We understand that. But it doesn’t mean that we go out and say, “This guy can’t beat us.” The Milwaukee Bucks can’t beat us and he’s part of their team. They are all hitting us now.
“You can’t just count it. It’s everyone.”