Photo via Jae Crowder - Instagram
Milwaukee Bucks Malik Beasley and Jae Crowder
Jae Crowder (right) and Malik Beasley
You wouldn’t think that a player averaging 8.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assisted per game is an important cog in your team. However, this is the Bucks’ Jae Crowder who played about 27 minutes in each tilt, shot 53.2% from the field, and more importantly, 51.6% from three-point range, outside the arc.
Crowder suffered a groin injury Nov. 11 in a loss to the Orlando Magic. The team announced that he suffered a left abductor and abdominal tear and will miss eight weeks because of it. Crowder, himself, said that the corrective surgery was successfully completed. Now comes the healing process and rehabilitation therapy.
Damian Lillard was also missing in the Orlando game, and the losing game before it with the Indiana Pacers. Deemed a protective measure for a calf injury, he came back Nov. 14 to score 12 points, shooting just 3 of 17, in 118-109 win over the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls game seemed to be a turning point for the Bucks (7-4) offensively, leading 35-18 after the first quarter. They couldn’t halt the Bucks’ Giannis Antetoukounmpo who grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 35 points of 13-for-22 shooting percentage.
Bulls’ coach Billy Donovan wanted to take advantage of the sloppy Bucks defensive play that has plagued them all season. Those defensive lapses surely have something to do with trading away Jrue Holiday and Wesley Matthews in the off-season, a new coach in Adrian Griffin, and new game plans.
Last night in Toronto was a different story, as Lillard flashed with 37 points and 13 assists during a 128-112 victory over the Raptors. Malik Beasley added 30 points, and Bobby Portis chipped in 18. Cameron Payne got 13 points in 16 minutes of play, and Brook Lopez (10) grabbed 6 defensive rebounds, 8 overall.
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G. Antetoukonmpo was absent from the line-up, for the first time this season, with a strained right calf.
This was a bookend game with the Raptors, as Milwaukee started a road trip Nov. 1, being outgunned on both sides of the court, 130-111. Beasley led the Bucks scoring with 20 points, and Portis (10) snared 5 defensive rebounds.
Of note, the Detroit Pistons game had the Bucks coming back late to scratch out a win, 120-118, largely on the fourth quarter shooting of Lillard (37) and Lopez (8) rebounding. G. Antetokounmpo was ejected nine minutes into the third quarter by official Scott Twardowski, one a technical foul, his second, after one in the second quarter.
G. Antetoukounmpo made a hard slam-dunk for two points, putting the Bucks ahead 73-60, and he appeared to glare at Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart. Twardowski whistled the technical, and the ejection. He approached Twardowski seeking a reason, and then left.
His brother, Thanasis Antetoukonmpo also received a technical foul, after the incident. Earlier, Stewart and Crowder were given double technical calls following a Portis score, and Lopez also received a technical for arguing with the official over a foul.
While the Pistons game put the team’s chaos on display, there is still 90% of the schedule left to go. This gives Griffin and the players a chance to continue working out the kinks. Crowder will be the missing piece of the puzzle until early next year, which sounds a long way off.
The Bucks take on the Hornets away, before getting back to the Fiserv Forum on Nov. 18 against the Dallas Mavericks. They will be back on Nov. 24 for the In-Season Tournament against the Washington Wizards. As if the regular season is not enough to cause injury and fatigue on the league races, the NBA seemingly wants to find a new way to do.
