The Milwaukee Bucks kicked off a crucial four-game road trip against the Utah Jazz last night.
With no Khris Middleton due to injury management, the Bucks needed other players to step up in his place, and they certainly did. It was an all-around team effort that helped the Bucks take down the Jazz 144-116, but Grayson Allen’s hot start undoubtedly ignited this team early.
Bucks beat the Jazz as Grayson Allen gets hot against his former team
The concept of the “revenge game” has been around forever in the NBA. When a player squares off against their former team, it is no secret that they can sometimes up their game. Of course, Allen was drafted by the Jazz in 2018 before eventually being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. Though Allen likely didn’t put too much thought into it, he certainly looked like he was out for revenge vs. the Jazz.
The guard came out red-hot, having scored the game’s first 11 points before Kelly Olynyk buried a technical free throw. Allen knocked down another triple later on to finish with 14 points in the first period, having shot a perfect 4-of-4 from deep and 5-of-7 overall. After the first, the Bucks led by 15 points, largely thanks to Allen coming out and setting the tone. After cooling down and going scoreless in the second quarter, Allen got hot again in the third and tallied 11 more points before sitting out the entire fourth.
Overall, Allen finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-9 from the perimeter. In addition to that, he notched four rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Allen can be an inconsistent player at times, but games like this show the impact he can have when that shot falls with some regularity. Hopefully this can be a momentum-building performance down the stretch.
With the win, the Bucks moved to 53-20 on the season. The Boston Celtics took down the Indiana Pacers on the same night, meaning they remain 2.5 games back of Milwaukee. Meanwhile, with the Philadephia 76ers falling to the Golden State Warriors, they have fallen four games back of the top seed in the East. The Bucks will have a chance to gain some more ground as they take on the Denver Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back tonight.
Be sure to tune in as the Milwaukee Bucks take on the Denver Nuggets in a battle of the top seeds tonight at 8:00 p.m. CST.