Sports Editorial (USA), Nov 26 (EFE).- The Milwaukee Bucks staged the biggest comeback this Sunday in this NBA season by recovering from a 26-point deficit against some Portland Trail Blazers who were especially motivated against their star , Damian Lillard (108-102).
For him it was the first time he faced the team of his entire life and he scored 31 points, being the fundamental pillar of the comeback along with Giannis Antetokounmpo who scored 33 points.
The other key player was Bobby Portis with 10 points in the last quarter, 8 of them consecutively.
In the Blazers, Jerami Grant shone above all the others, with 22 points and 3 triples from 6 attempts. DeAndre Ayton and Malcolm Brogdon had double-doubles, with 14 and 18 points respectively; The center captured 13 rebounds and the point guard distributed 12 assists.
Portland hits
We had to wait four and a half minutes for Lillard’s first basket, when Portland was already in control in the light.
The match was presented as a physical battle that the Blazers, young and tall, controlled, which led them to dominate the scoreboard from the beginning.
The perimeter rewarded them and the quick transitions did the rest, as Chauncey Billups’ men scored up to 11 points in this way in the first few moments.
And that was precisely how the first quarter ended, with two counterattacks by the Blazers with Jabari Walker and Grant hanging on the rim (26-31).
The difference was also marked by scoring from the bench, 10 for the visitors, while Milwaukee did not add any with its second unit.
The contribution of Portland’s substitutes was so fantastic that their income grew in parallel with their points.
The Bucks were knocked out. The locals barely saved a few flashes from Antetokounmpo, who rose to finish with an incontestable dunk and shortly after blocked Shaedon Sharpe’s dunk attempt.
Too little to be able to respond to a brilliant first half from the rival, which the Blazers were able to reflect on the scoreboard with an impressive 52-68 at halftime. It was the biggest halftime deficit for the Bucks so far this year.
Milwaukee reaction ‘in extremis’
After going through the locker room, Milwaukee disappointed again and took an unexpected 3-13 run in just three minutes that raised fears of victory too early. A three-pointer from Grant completed the crushing and forced the Bucks bench to stop the game again.
Antetokounmpo and Lillard took responsibility for the disaster and stepped up with 6 points each for a 14-0 run that froze the Blazers’ scoring at 83 points to make it 72-83.
The two Bucks stars surpassed twenty points with this and only Sharpe was able to keep up with their scoring pace. A more hopeful definition of the game was reached for the home team: 75-88 with one quarter remaining.
Portland had the fortitude to know how to maintain a safe distance for a long time, with about 10 reference points. They didn’t convince, they didn’t score fluently, but they forced Milwaukee to rely heavily on the genius of Antetokounmpo.
Only something strange could change the course of the game and it had a name and surname: Bobby Portis.
The Milwaukee power forward combined 8 consecutive points. The first thing was a basket after countless offensive rebounds; then two consecutive triples; and he closed it with an assist for Lillard that rounded out a 12-0 run.
The score of 94-95 gave way to a new game of just over five minutes.
Once again the visiting offense was frozen, this time at those 95 points. The Blazers went more than seven minutes without making a basket in the game and Lillard punished them. He went up with a triple in his specialty, clutch time, putting the tie at 97 points.
Malik Beasley gave the Bucks the initiative from the perimeter, something that had not happened since the first quarter, but Grant also responded with three to tie (102-102).
The Blazers were heavily blamed for the poor decisions made by Brogdon in the final possessions. Antetokounmpo tapped in to put his team up two points with 19 seconds left. He himself committed a foul on a thrown Brogdon to fix his lack of consistency, but the requested challenge ‘rewarded’ with a jump between two that was practically decisive as Milwaukee kept possession.
Lillard sealed it with his four free throws for the final 108-102.
2023-11-27 01:16:03
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