Grayson Allen, what are you doing?
The Milwaukee Bucks were considered the championship favorites entering the 2023 NBA Playoffs. They ended the season being sent home in the first round, becoming the sixth No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 8 seed in league history, while being the first top seed to only win one game in a best-of-seven first round series.
The Heat beat the Bucks, 128-126, in a Game 5 overtime thriller on Wednesday night to eliminate Milwaukee and reach the second round. It’s not exactly fair to say the Bucks collapsed in the series because they were thoroughly outplayed from the opening tip, but the Bucks definitely collapsed at the end of Game 5.
There were so many incredibly bad moments of basketball down the stretch from the Bucks. The team shot 3-of-19 in the fourth quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo missed 13 free throws on the night. The Bucks committed sloppy turnovers and bad fouls, completely abandoned their offensive principles in favor of tough jumpers, and simply melted down in every way possible with their season on the line.
But the funniest and weirdest moment from the Bucks’ collapse in Game 5 was the very last play: Grayson Allen dribbling out the clock and not even attempting a game-tying shot as the buzzer sounded. Watch the play here:
Grayson Allen … bro … what are you doing? Cool Eurostep, man, but maybe like, shoot the ball?
NBA fans took great joy in Allen having such a poor moment to end the game, and it’s no surprise why. I wrote my first story on Allen when he was a high school player at the McDonald’s All-American Game, calling him the next Duke player fans will love to hate. It’s one of my few good predictions ever. Allen went out to have an extremely polarizing college career with the Blue Devils, where he helped the program win a national championship as a freshman, but will mostly be remembered for tripping opponents, getting suspended, and often blurring the line between clean and dirty plays.
Allen has become a pretty good NBA role player since he left Duke, and he’s been a nice addition for the Bucks as a shooter who can space the floor around Giannis. Yet when he got the chance to play the hero and save the Bucks’ season, Allen just completely froze. He was either completely overwhelmed by the moment, or just unaware of it.
The Bucks’ season is over, and everyone in Milwaukee will have a lot of time to think about all the ways it went wrong. That’s especially true for Allen, the guy who had the ball in his hands as the clock expired in a one possession game and couldn’t even get off a shot.
