Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen was ejected with 5 minutes, 45 seconds left in the third quarter of the Bucks’ game against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night at the Fiserv Forum for committing a Flagrant 2 foul on the Bulls shooting guard Alex Caruso.
On a fast break, Caruso took off for a layup and Allen swept in from the sideline. As both players rose, Allen hooked Caruso’s right arm and flipped the Bulls guard horizontally into the air, landing hard under the basket.
The play was reviewed and the referees assessed Allen with Flagrant 2, resulting in an immediate ejection. Caruso missed free throws after the foul.
Chicago head coach Billy Donovan had strong words about the play and Allen after the game.
“It was really bad,” he began. “It was very, very bad. We lost Patrick (Williams) to a flagrant foul, a pretty major injury. I said this after the game, Mitchell Robinson (of New York) was trying to make a legitimate play in basketball. For Alex to be in the air and knock him down like that, it could have ended his career.
“He has a history of this. That to me was really, really dangerous. I hope the league takes a hard look at something like that because they could have hurt him very, very seriously. He’s dealing with his wrist right now.” I don’t know how far the doll is, but just being there, it was very, very dangerous to go after someone like that.
“I personally thought it was, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good. For it to extend to a Flagrant 2 and get kicked out of the game, clearly the umpires must have felt there was some intent there, the way he pulled it and threw it hit the ground, his head bounced off the ground. Very, very, very dangerous game.”
Donovan was then asked by the Chicago media if he had a chance to speak with Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer about the play after the game, but instead Donovan shared more thoughts on Allen and again expressed hope. for the NBA to take a look at the play.
“I have a lot of respect for ‘Bud’ and all of these guys are professional athletes,” Donovan said. “Nothing against ‘Bud’ at all. But I think doing that to a player is really — you could have jeopardized his career in a lot of ways. I don’t know what his answer would be, maybe he didn’t mean to do it, he didn’t.” I know. I just know that the play looked really, really bad. On a guy who has a history of doing that, all the way back to college.
“I hope the league takes a hard look at something like that. Because God forbid this guy was on a stretcher coming out of the building right now. That wouldn’t be good. I know this is a physical game and there’s plays at the basket and there’s a lot of contact. , stuff like that, but there’s a right way that you can go up and get physical when you do that. Not that way, in my opinion.”
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According to the NBA, a Flagrant 2 is considered “unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent.”
“It’s a tough play,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game, which Milwaukee won 94-90. “I think Grayson, not malicious, went to block the shot. I think it’s a close decision. They went with Flagrant 2 and I’m not going to disagree. It’s right on the border and that’s the direction they went. I hope Caruso comes out healthy and well, he played a lot later. It’s unlucky for Grayson, unlucky for us to end up without him. It’s a tough decision, but that’s how they left.”
Allen finished the game with five points on 2-for-5 shooting in 20 minutes. Caruso played 23 minutes and was 3 of 11 from the field for seven points. He also had eight rebounds and four assists.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism