Antetokounmpo, Dellavedova suffer ankle injuries
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Milwaukee Bucks never trailed Sunday afternoon, maintaining a comfortable lead over the Brooklyn Nets that didn’t drop below seven points in the second half on the way to a 109-94 victory to improve to six games over .500 for the first time since March 2015.
That being the case, the Bucks experienced one of their scariest fourth quarters of the season. Both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Matthew Dellavedova went down with right ankle injuries during the period as the Bucks put the finishing touches on the win at the Barclays Center.
“It’s tough, but other players have got to step up,” said point guard Eric Bledsoe, who poured in a team-high 28 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
First, with 10:41 on the clock, Dellavedova collided with Nets guard D’Angelo Russell, sending both players to the floor. Russell was whistled for blocking and fouled out.
Immediately and obviously in pain, Dellavedova grabbed at his right ankle. He was able to get up and limp off the court. On the sideline, Dellavedova pulled his jersey up over his face and let out a muffled scream of frustration. Accompanied by members of the team’s medical staff, he then went to the locker room where he was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain.
Dellavedova chose not to speak to the media after the game but was able to walk out of the locker room while wearing his own shoes rather than a walking boot. He will undergo further examination ahead of the team’s game Tuesday against the New York Knicks.
Just over three minutes after Dellavedova’s injury, Antetokounmpo hit the deck in the middle of a defensive possession, writhing in pain. He had stepped on the foot of Brooklyn’s De-
Marre Carroll and twisted his right ankle.
When the ball changed hands, the Bucks immediately called a timeout to check on their downed star.
During the timeout, Jabari Parker helped Antetokounmpo get up and offered to support him to the bench, but Antetokounmpo shook him off and gingerly made his way to the sideline. The team’s medical staff checked him out and re-taped his ankle, but he never returned to the game, ending his day with 16 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes.
“Oh yeah, definitely; I’ve done it in the past,” Antetokounmpo said when asked if he could have returned to the game. “I remember two years ago I twisted my ankle here but I played through it . ... I knew if the game was close I would definitely be back in.”
Outside of that drama, there wasn’t much else. The Bucks led from wire to wire, building the margin as high as 28 points in the third quarter. Bledsoe led the way by going 12 of 20 from the field in his first extended action this week after being hampered by his own left ankle injury and fouling out in just 20 minutes on Friday night.
“Really nice job of stepping up,” interim head coach Joe Prunty said of Bledsoe. “He played very well defensively. He’s always trying to work, pressure the ball as much as he can and it’s a hard responsibility to run the team, score a little bit but he played very well.”
Bucks center John Henson collected 19 points and 18 rebounds — both season highs. His effort came thanks in part to Milwaukee’s defense holding Brooklyn to 37 of 90 shooting (41.1%), which led to the Bucks owning a 54-36 edge on the glass, but he also made a concerted effort to crash the offensive glass, grabbing seven rebounds at that end.
“Obviously it’s something we have a weakness in,” Henson said regarding the Bucks’ season-long rebounding struggles. “Me and Thon (Maker) aren’t the biggest, strongest guys so we just have to position rebound. … Tonight, I got on the board early, a lot of tip-ins and stuff and kind of rode it out from there.”
With the win, the Bucks opened their four-game road trip with a victory and improved to 6-1 under Prunty.
“Right now I think how things are going has been great,” Antetokounmpo said, at first unsure if the team was 5-1 or 6-1 under Prunty. “Wow, 6-1. We have a chance to get the next one vs. the Knicks, and I think everything is just going good.”
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
Another one in the books: Sunday’s game marked the second of the season for Parker, who played about 21⁄2 minutes more than his debut. He accumulated 11 points, two assists and two blocks in 171⁄2 minutes, doing most of his scoring at the foul line, where he was 6 of 6.
“I feel good, man,” Parker said. “It’s always good to win — that’s the most important. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so it’s going to take some time.” UP NEXT
Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (29-23) vs. New York Knicks (23-31).
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: Madison Square Garden. About the Knicks: Coming off their last-second loss Friday in Milwaukee, the Knicks returned home and lost Sunday to the Atlanta Hawks, 99-96, on a late three-pointer by Kent Bazemore. The loss was the Knicks’ third in a row, dropping them to 3-7 in their last 10 games.