Bucks' Grayson Allen serenaded by boos in first game in Chicago since his flagrant foul injured Alex Caruso

To no surprise, Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen was welcomed with a chorus of boos from Chicago Bulls fans during Friday night's matchup at the United Center. Allen was suspended for one game in late January after his flagrant 2 foul sent Bulls guard Alex Caruso crashing to the floor. Caruso suffered a broken right wrist, and has not returned to the court since the incident.

Allen started Friday's game, and was the subject of the Bulls fans' ire every time he touched the ball. He was later serenaded by boos when he checked back into the game with just over six minutes left in the second quarter.

Allen is no stranger to accusations of dirty play. He was suspended during his senior season at Duke in 2017 after his third incident of tripping an opponent. The one-game suspension he received from the NBA after the hard foul on Caruso was met with much criticism, and Bulls center Tristan Thompson, who was not a member of the team at the time of the foul, voiced his opinion heading into Friday night's matchup.

"S--t. Take one of my dogs out like that, we're gonna have issues," Thompson said on Thursday. "You gotta set the tone. That's what Bulls basketball is about, setting the tone. What he did affected one of our guys, and I don't think anyone should forget about that."

Thompson's words came to mind in the third quarter, when Bulls forward Derrick Jones Jr. was issued a flagrant foul after elbowing Allen in the head on a baseline drive.

Caruso practiced last week, at which time Bulls coach Billy Donovan said he expected the guard to need at least a couple more weeks to build up his strength. Entering Friday night, Chicago had gone 11-8 since Allen's flagrant foul sidelined Caruso, with the league's 26th-ranked defensive rating. Prior to the injury, the Bulls were 28-17, and their defense was ranked 17th.

Comments

Bill Russell Once Explained Why He Didn't Bother With Celtics Fans: "When I Was A Star, The Fans Called Us The 'Boston Globetrotters' Because The Celtics Had Black Players."

While the NBA is a beacon for freedom and tolerance in America, things didn't start off that way. In a place like Boston, during the 50s and 60s, racial tension was a pretty serious problem, and superstar big man Bill Russell had to deal with it on a game-to-game basis. Today, it can be hard for us to imagine just how difficult being a black basketball player really was back then. Fortunately, we have some clips: "The number one paper was the Boston Herald and they didn't like the idea of an NBA team having black players. Out there, the star was Bob Cousy. No matter what I did, Cousy was the star. I remember I had a game where I had 25 points, 25 rebounds, 10 blocks, and the Boston Herald said I was lucky to play with Cousy." Unfortunately, the media didn't give Russell his respect back then. Despite being the best player on the court, and on his team, Cousy and others always got the spotlight. Even the fans weren't very accepting of Bill: "I didn't...

From Deep: At long last, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets can envision getting to the top of the mountain

Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop...

Sixers' James Harden backs teammate Joel Embiid for MVP: 'He deserves it, man'

James Harden has been a member of the Philadelphia 76ers for less than two months, but that's been more than enough time for him to appreciate the brilliance of Joel Embiid. The duo is expected to help the Sixers compete for a championship, but Harden believes another trophy should be on its way to Philly this year. In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Harden backed Embiid for MVP, saying "he deserves it, man." "I've only been here for a few weeks, but I already see his mindset," Harden said. "He wants to win. Some guys just want numbers, but he has both. He has the mentality of winning, and he scores the ball at a high level. I think he's prepared himself, especially coming off last year, for this year to be one of his best years." This has indeed been one of Embiid's best years. He's averaging a career-high 29.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.4 blocks while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 35.8 percent f...

Crossover World

Search This Blog