On Friday evening, the Bulls (+3.5) and Bucks (-3.5) were caught in the muck together in Milwaukee. A key NBA East battle saw both teams shoot well under 40 percent, with neither sitting at 50 points by halftime. If division rivalry meant anything in the NBA (it doesn’t), one would think the familiarity between Chicago and Milwaukee played a part in the griminess. Never mind watching bright stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and DeMar DeRozan: This was a defensive slog (a euphemism for poor offense), and someone was going to have to crawl out of the woodwork.
Speaking of griminess and crawling out of the woodwork, Grayson Allen happens to play for the Bucks these days. After a career of grit (underhanded dirty plays) with Duke that gave Allen a well-earned mark of notoriety, he’s still plugging away these days in the NBA. Huh, who would have thought that would translate to the professional level?
And boy, did Allen have something to say, or rather, due to Chicago’s Alex Caruso in the late third quarter of Friday’s marquee matchup.
Grayson Allen foul on Alex Caruso. Replays included. pic.twitter.com/1ixcve9i0s
— Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤𝔻 ▶️ (@_MarcusD3_) January 22, 2022
Oh, gee, Grayson Allen threw down an opponent mid-air with reckless abandon and no concern for his safety? I’m going to have to sit down. You’re telling me that Grayson Allen, a model citizen and young man, cares not for following an inherent social contract where you shouldn’t intentionally hurt other players? Someone get me a paper bag.
Allen would get a Flagrant II foul on the play. Then, officials ejected him from the contest to raucous applause (mainly from NBA Twitter). In the coming days, one would have to think that given the officials seeing obvious intent and ruling accordingly, a short suspension, or at least, fine, might be coming down the pipe for Allen. To add insult to injury, the Bucks wound up winning and Allen had the last laugh (if he’s capable of chuckling).
In a more significant update: Only days since he made his official return to the Bulls, Caruso was thankfully OK.
Caruso on Giannis pic.twitter.com/U2jwuusL58
— Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤𝔻 ▶️ (@_MarcusD3_) January 22, 2022
If he’s making plays like that on Giannis, yeah, he’s probably alright.
All that aside, rather than take a good hard foul (at most) on a player in transition, Allen, to no one’s surprise, couldn’t keep his cool and couldn’t help himself. In other news, water is wet, and it can get really cold in a Milwaukee winter.
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