Jamal Collier
milwaukee – with box Down by more than 30 points at halftime of Tuesday night’s game against timberwolvesFans at the Fiserv Forum jeered the team as they left the court.
so later giannis antetokounmpo Made the first basket of the third quarter, a layup on the Wolves forward. julius randall After a foul that pushed Antetokounmpo onto the court, the Bucks’ two-time MVP responded in the same manner: giving a two thumbs down gesture and booing the Milwaukee crowd as he sat on the court under the basket.
Antetokounmpo said after this 139-106 The disadvantage is that this was the first time he could remember being humiliated on his home ground.
“Whenever I get yelled at, I yell back,” Antetokounmpo said after scoring 25 points on 9-13 shooting.
The double thumbs-down gesture is what Antetokounmpo has responded to fans on the road several times this season, most notably after his winning shot against the Pacers in Indiana in October and most recently when his windmill dunk put an exclamation point on a win against them. Chicago Bulls.
Even though Tuesday’s game was played in Milwaukee, Antetokounmpo made it clear how he would respond to such ridicule.
“It doesn’t matter,” Antetokounmpo said about staying home. “I play basketball for my teammates. I play basketball for me and my family. When people don’t believe in me, I don’t stick with them. I do what I’m here to do, what I’m good at. … It won’t change anything at home or away. But yes, I’ve never been a part of anything like this before and I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t. But everyone has their own opinion about what they want to do.
“I’m not going to tell them what to do and how to behave when we don’t play hard. Or when we lose games, or when we’re not where we should have been. I don’t think anyone has the right to tell me how to act. [a] I’m on the basketball court after living here for 13 years. And I’m basically the all-time leader in everything.”
Antetokounmpo’s disappointment came after a disappointing loss to Milwaukee, which has now dropped consecutive games to 17-23 on the season.
Bucks lose to Wolves team without playing Rudy Gobertwho was serving a one-game suspension due to multiple serious fouls committed this season, and Anthony EdwardsWho sat out to manage his right leg injury.
But Minnesota blew out an early lead to Milwaukee. The Wolves never trailed and led by 41 points with the Bucks starters fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
“Obviously you’re disappointed,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think we didn’t work hard. I think we didn’t do the right things. We didn’t play as a team. You can’t take too much from this game. You just have to forget about it. Take whatever new thing you did, try to improve on it and move on to the next one. But the effort was low, you can’t get that. You can’t get that.”
It was Milwaukee’s first game after a four-game, eight-day West Coast trip in four different cities. The Bucks are scheduled to depart for another two-game trip on Wednesday. So, coach Doc Rivers planned Tuesday’s loss for a tired team coming off a long trip.
“Just beat us off the dribble all night long,” Rivers said. “I honestly thought we were playing sloppy. I knew it was going to be a tough game. … But no excuses. We didn’t have it. We were flat.”
But Antetokounmpo said tired legs are no excuse for the way the team played Tuesday night.
“I don’t think these are dead legs,” he said. “Were we tired? Yes, a little. We had the day off yesterday. I don’t understand why.”
“It’s not dead legs. I’m never going to say I didn’t have legs. I’m going to say I could have done things better. My effort wasn’t there. Maybe I wasn’t as focused as I should have been. And after that, when I look at myself, I look at the team overall, what can we do better, but I don’t think it’s dead legs. That can’t be an excuse.”
