With no games scheduled for Monday, 28 of the NBA's 30 teams toook the hardwood on Tuesday with plenty of takeaways across the board. Today's edition of The Morning Dunk has got you covered with everything you may have missed.
Giannis Injures Calf, Free Throws Non-Existent In Bucks Victory
It's never timely to suffer an injury, but with just three games remaining in the regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks are holding their breath that Giannis Antetokounmpo will be good to go for the postseason.
The Greek Freak left Tuesday's 104-91 win over the visiting Boston Celtics in the third quarter following a non-contact injury in which he inbounded the basketball, headed up the court, and then went down holding his left leg.
He was eventually ruled out with what the team called a left calf strain, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in just under 30 minutes of action.
Giannis went down in the third quarter vs. the Celtics and limped to the locker room.
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 10, 2024
(via @BleacherReport)pic.twitter.com/dRtbjqfeHm
The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Wednesday morning that Antetokounmpo avoided major damage to his Achilles, and his return will be based off of rehab and treatment with no timetable set in stone as of yet. The Bucks are 3-3 SU this season when the superstar forward is unavailable.
On a more lighthearted and more fascinating note, the Bucks and Celtics shot a combined two free throws at Fiserv Forum, with both attempts coming from Milwaukee. It established a new NBA record for the fewest attempts in a single game, while Boston became the first team to not get to the charity stripe even once.
The previous record of one free-throw attempt was held by the 2018 Atlanta Hawks and 2014 Memphis Grizzlies.
Edwards Goes Off For 51
In a perfect world, it wouldn't have taken a superhuman effort to overcome the dreadful Washington Wizards, but Anthony Edwards brought one to the table anyway at the Target Center.
Edwards scored a career-best 51 points, shooting 17-of-29 from the field, 6-of-11 from 3-point range, and a flawless 11-of-11 at the free-throw line in a 130-121 win for the Minnesota Timberwolves in which they trailed by as many as 21 points.
He dropped 30 of his 51 points in the second half alone.
A CAREER NIGHT FOR ANTHONY EDWARDS 🔥
— NBA (@NBA) April 10, 2024
🐜 51 PTS (career-high)
🐜17-29 FGM
🐜 6 3PM pic.twitter.com/OrKZl8sq6h
Minnesota entered as the 18.5-point favorites, which was the second-largest spread of any game in 2023-24 behind a 19.5-point spread for a game between the Celtics and Grizzlies on Feb. 4.
The victory puts the Timberwolves in a dead lock with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference with identical 55-24 records SU.
Warriors Beat Davis-less Lakers In Potential Play-In Preview
It was perhaps the biggest win of the season for the Golden State Warriors in more ways than one, and they may have to do it all over again in less than a week.
The Warriors were led by Klay Thompson's 27 points and five 3-pointers, while Stephen Curry contributed 23 points to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 134-120 at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers were without Anthony Davis, who left the building prior to tip-off because of a headache and nausea.
Golden State shot a combined 26-of-41 from the perimeter at a 63.4 percent clip, setting a new league record for the greatest shooting night in NBA history.
26 THREES
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 10, 2024
Here's every single one of 'em ☔️ pic.twitter.com/VzAsr9Pf67
The win moved the Warriors to within half a game of the Lakers for the ninth seed in the West, which would give them home-court advantage in what is currently scheduled to be a matchup for the play-in tournament which gets underway on April 16.
