Josh Giddey has continued his All-Star-calibre ascension as the Chicago Bulls fell short of the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday AEDT.
Meanwhile, an Australian rookie made a statement in just his eighth NBA game, and Dyson Daniels was in action again for the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks.
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Giddey flirted with a third-straight triple-double but instead recorded his seventh double-double in eight games.
The fifth-year point guard finished with 16 points on 6-14 shooting and logged a season-high 14 assists along with seven rebounds to fuel Chicago’s cause.
The 23-year-old entered play on Saturday averaging 23.1 points on 49.6 per cent shooting, 10.0 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game — all of which are career-highs — and he was a focal point on offence again despite the Bulls falling 126-110 and a 6-2 record.
Not only has Giddey rocketed firmly into All-Star calculations, but he entered Saturday sitting sixth overall on NBA.com’s MVP ladder — giving a categorical indication of his standing in the league just eight games into the new season.
Giddey and the Bulls were fast in transition from the get-go, looking to push the pace and keep the Bucks backpedalling.
The floor general had his eyes up, too, with two assists in the early going, including a bullet pass to a cutting Matas Buzelis for a basket.
Giddey found Nikola Vucevic for two jumpers to take his assist tally to four.
The Bulls’ primary ball-handler had to be at his distributive best on a night where it was clear Milwaukee was looking to clog the key in anticipation of deep Giddey drives.
“He does a good job of attacking the defence. He gets downhill, and you see everybody starting to collapse,” Chicago Sports Network analyst Stacey King said.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – NOVEMBER 04: Josh Giddey notched another double-double.Source: Getty Images
“That opens up for their shooters, and those guys just have to step up and make shots. Those are easy assists for Josh.”
Giddey checked out after eight minutes with four points and five assists.
When he returned in the second period, he quickly had his third made shot of the night — all three had been push shots or floaters from inside the key.
But later in the quarter, Giddey — shooting from downtown at a career-best clip this season — dribbled into his first three-pointer of the night.
“Josh Giddey is shooting that ball from the three with so much confidence,” King said.
“A much better shooter from last year, got better at the end of the season.”
And he isn’t just setting sail on open looks. He’s aggressively looking for the shot, and it’s a crucial attitudinal change that will only propel his rise in stature.
With less than two minutes left in the second, a confident Giddey drained his second three-pointer after creating space at the top of the perimeter.
To cap a near-faultless first half, Giddey, off a Bucks turnover with five seconds remaining, raced in transition for the layup to beat the buzzer.
He had 14 points on 6-9 shooting, seven assists and two rebounds at the main change, and was a game-high +11 in the plus-minus metric. He was at the centre of just about everything the Bulls were doing.
Giddey had his eighth assist of the night with a downcourt pitch quickly following a made Bucks free throw.
And just minutes later, he had his 10th to secure yet another double-double, driving inside before dishing out to an open Vucevic for a three.
In the fourth quarter, Giddey continued to put pressure on Milwaukee’s interior defence with physical drives, which allowed the Bulls to swing around the perimeter for open outside looks.
Unfortunately for Chicago, however, the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Bucks were too strong — outscoring the visitors 41-30 in the last term to cement the result.
Antetokounmpo finished with a whopping 41 points on 16-32 shooting, 15 rebounds and nine assists to put the Bucks on his back on their home court.
‘ALMOST UNFAIR’: PROCTOR EXPLODES IN Q4 AS AUSSIES LINK UP
Rookie Australian guard Tyrese Proctor has made a scoring statement in just his eighth NBA game.
In the fourth quarter alone, Proctor poured in an eye-opening 15 points as his Cleveland Cavaliers dispatched the Washington Wizards.
That included shooting a scintillating 5-6 from three-point land to finish with 17 points in 19 minutes of action. He added three assists and was an overall +8 in his minutes.
Granted, the Duke University product played extended minutes due to the context of the game, with Cleveland well in control of the contest late in proceedings.
But excitingly, Proctor also connected twice with fellow Aussie Cavalier Luke Travers.
First, Travers dished to Proctor for his third three-ball, before Proctor found Travers for a driving layup with five minutes left.
Second-year guard Travers finished with four points in nine minutes of action.
DANIELS FLIRTS WITH TRIPLE-DOUBLE, EQUALS HAWKS’ STEALS STREAK RECORD
Dyson Daniels flirted with a triple-double, but the Atlanta Hawks fell to the Toronto Raptors 109-97 in their NBA Cup clash.
Daniels racked up seven points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block but shot just 2-of-10 from the field in the loss.
The Aussie young gun continued his consecutive games with a steal streak (61), which equalled Doc Rivers’ Hawks franchise record.
The Raptors overcame poor shooting in the first half as all five of their starters finished in double figures, including 20 points from Brandon Ingram.
Daniels was active early defensively with two steals that led to fastbreak points and a block in the first quarter.
He scored his first points on a nice drive to the rim with 3:14 left in the opening term and made a pair of free throws late in the period.
After Atlanta led by nine at half-time, the Raptors came out hot to start the second half with a 14-8 run to get to within three points at 61-58, prompting Quin Snyder to call a timeout.
Daniels’ passing was on full display in the third term, dishing out four assists with extra offensive responsibilities in Trae Young’s absence.
But Toronto dominated the fourth quarter, with Scottie Barnes’ layup giving them an 82-81 lead with 7:31 left and the home side never letting up from that point.
Daniels knocked down an important 3-pointer to get Atlanta back within five points at 91-86 with 4:22 left in the ball game, but it’s the closest the visitors would get for the rest of the way.
The loss saw the Hawks fall to 4-5 on the season.
LANDALE KEEPS UP STRONG PLAY IN MAVS CRUSHING
Jock Landale took advantage of an undermanned Dallas Mavericks frontcourt missing Anthony Davis to continue his strong play for Memphis.
And Ja Morant (21 points, 12 assists) bounced back in the Grizzlies’ 118-104 drubbing of Dallas in a game the hosts led by as much as 35.
Landale tallied 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, seven rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes.
Perhaps most impressively, the Aussie big finished a game-high +32, which was +43 at one stage …
Morant powered Memphis out of the gates with 12 points and five assists in the first quarter to give them an early 34-24 lead.
They ballooned their advantage out to 23 by half-time as the Mavericks failed to challenge the hosts thereafter despite pulling the margin back in the fourth term.
In a brutal setback for a Mavs frontcourt also missing Derrek Lively in addition to Davis, Daniel Gafford exited the game with a right ankle issue and didn’t return.
Dallas’ No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg (12 points, six rebounds) was outshined by Grizzlies rookie Cedric Coward (21 points and nine rebounds off the bench) as Memphis snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 4-6.