Milwaukee Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo committed an untimely risk that almost cost his team the game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Rather than lambast the third-year man, head coach Mike Budenholzer acknowledged DiVicenzo's efforts.
The battle between two Eastern titans went down the wire on Wednesday. With three seconds left in regulation, the 76ers had a chance to tie the game. Meanwhile, all the Bucks had to do was to play their best defense.
Instead of playing conservatively, DiVincenzo decided to go for the steal on the in-bounds pass. He missed it by an inch which freed up Furkan Korkmaz for the wide-open three. After the game, Budenholzer spoke about the play and DiVincenzo's role on the team.
“Donte's making a competitive play, trying to keep the catch from happening. Now, it's certainly not something we want to do and we want to be able to make that three more difficult, but…he lays it all out there. He's a big reason we're able to win tonight,” Budenholzer said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
Below is the play in question. DiVincenzo's eyes must have glimmered in excitement after the seemingly weak pass. Unfortunately, it might have been wiser for the Bucks guard to let the ball go through and just contest the shot.
And the Sixers capitalize on that mistake with a big three from Korkmaz and bad gamble from DiVincenzo to give up an open look. pic.twitter.com/JjUneFP8tm
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) March 18, 2021
The game went to overtime and fortunately, the Bucks won 109-105. And just like Budenholzer pointed out, DiVincenzo was a big reason for the victory which was their 5th in a row.. The 17th pick of the 2018 NBA Draft knocked down clutch free throws with 0.1 seconds left to give his team a four-point lead.
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