Bahamian professional basketball player with the Phoenix Suns DeAndre Ayton vowed to continue being aggressive in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals despite being in foul trouble in game three.
He and the Suns return to action against the Milwaukee Bucks tonight, looking to win and take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series. Game Four is set for the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, getting underway at 9 p.m.
The Bucks won for the first time in the series in Game Three on Sunday, pulling to within two games to one in the series. They recorded an impressive 120-100 victory on Sunday night. Ayton had three fouls by the end of the first half, and picked up his fourth at the 10:25 mark of the third quarter. He was substituted out of the game after that foul and didn’t return until the fourth quarter.
“I’m not going to let none of those foul calls change my aggression,” Ayton said. “(I have to) mainly just show my hands early, letting the refs know where I’m at, feeling the refs out throughout the game on my physicality, how I’m playing defense. It was frustrating. We really wanted that game, and I just felt that as a team we needed a little bit more effort. They played harder than us, and yep, that was the result.”
It appeared that those four fouls changed the way Ayton played for the rest of the game. When he checked back into the game in the fourth quarter, he committed two quick turnovers. He picked up his fifth foul with 8:53 left in the game and was substituted out again. Suns’ Head Coach Monty Williams kept Ayton out for the rest of the game. He only played 24 minutes on the night.
Although he was in foul trouble for most of the game, Ayton was still able to finish with 18 points – tied for the second-highest on the team. He also grabbed nine rebounds, narrowly missing out on what would have been his third straight double-double of the series. He went 8-for-11 from the field.
Heading into the game tonight, Ayton said he is not concerned about being in foul trouble. He said he will put Game Three behind him and focus on the task at hand tonight.
“I mean, yeah. I mean, it’s loud in there, man, so anything can go any way, but just in general, I’m not going to let that game bother me, to be honest. I think I’ve been playing defense where I can play big and just embrace contact. It was just up to how the momentum of the game was going to where we’re in transition and I’m talking, gathering everybody around or doing straight-up verticality. It’s pretty hard in the playoffs where you can get a foul or not. It’s just me being sturdy and doing what I do best,” Ayton said.
Ayton said both teams will make adjustments and come ready to play. He said he’s looked at a lot of film to see where he made mistakes and how to rectify them.
“(I’m) just mainly approaching it the right way … just mainly trying to stay on the floor the whole time of the game and just trying to stay away from foul trouble,” he said. “I think that’s an awareness that I see on the court where they’re trying to attack me, so it’s just me bracing myself and being aware of what’s coming next.”
Ayton’s production in this best-of-seven series, and throughout the playoffs, has garnered a lot of respect and brought some new fans on board. His numbers this series, which includes 16.7 points and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes per contest, are hard to go unnoticed. He is averaging a blistering 64.2 percent shooting from the field.
Game Four is set for the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, tonight, and will be televised live on ABC starting at 9 p.m.
The post Ayton vows to keep being aggressive appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/ayton-vows-to-keep-being-aggressive/
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