"Wow, a poster dunk!"
"That dirty Bogut just got postered by Blake Su, that felt amazing!"
"Beautiful!"
"That was insane!"
"..."
Watching Blake Su press down on Bogut's head and hammer home the dunk, every Suns fan in the stands threw their arms up, cheering and shouting in excitement.
"Great play!!!"
Frye, who saw everything unfold right under the basket, jumped up in pure excitement, completely fired up.
"Aaaah!"
At almost the same moment, Bogut, who had just been dunked on, screamed in pain, clutching his face as he staggered backward and fell to the floor again.
At first, people thought he might be exaggerating, but when Salmons rushed over and pulled his hand away, they saw that his face was already covered in blood.
The medical staff hurried in to stop the bleeding.
Meanwhile.
The big screen replayed the dunk in slow motion. It turned out that Blake Su had jumped so high that, during the dunk, his knee slammed into Bogut's brow.
That impact split his brow open, causing the bleeding. As Bogut kept covering his face, the blood smeared across it, making it look even worse.
After multiple slow-motion replays, it was confirmed that the contact came from a normal dunking motion. The injury was accidental.
Even with a split brow and a face covered in blood, no additional penalty was given.
"He got what he deserved!"
"Who knows what dirty thoughts he had in his head? It's already lucky his eye wasn't taken out."
"Serves him right!"
"Seeing him like this actually feels great!"
"..."
Bogut, who had just been dunked on, with his brow split open and his face covered in blood, looked pitiful, yet the fans felt nothing but satisfaction.
Even Curry, usually easygoing, didn't give him a single sympathetic look.
Blake Su also showed nothing but disdain.
On the court.
The medical staff quickly cleaned the blood from Bogut's face. Then, accompanied by the medical team, he headed back to the locker room to have his injury examined and treated.
With Bogut sidelined, it was unclear whether he could return that night. The 211 cm (6'11") backup center, Larry Sanders, checked in to replace him.
The game continued.
Because of Bogut's dirty play, tensions between the two teams escalated, and the physicality on both ends was intense throughout the first quarter.
Neither side shot well.
Bucks (20): (28) Suns.
Thanks to the early burst from Blake Su, the Suns led by 8 at the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter.
Bogut did not return.
During the bench rotation, the Bucks cut the lead to 5. But once the starters returned and both sides settled down, the Suns' strength as the top team in the Western Conference became clear.
They outscored the Bucks by 9 in the quarter.
By halftime, the Suns were already up by 14.
In the ESPN broadcast booth.
Hubie Brown said, "The Bucks are already the weaker team, and now they've lost their starting center. There's no way they can beat the Suns tonight.
I think once the second half starts, the game will be blown open in the third quarter, and it'll be over early."
Dave Pasch nodded. "If nothing unexpected happens, that's how it should go. The Suns are about to win their 20th straight game tonight, tying the Bucks and moving into the top three longest winning streaks in NBA history."
However.
At the start of the third quarter, the Bucks got some good news. Bogut, whose brow had been split open by Blake Su earlier, returned to the floor.
Yes.
After more than a quarter of rest and treatment, Bogut came back with his wound bandaged. Despite being disliked, his tough style meant he wasn't the type to back down.
Of course.
Coming back wasn't just about helping the team win.
He also wanted to get even with Blake Su for all the humiliation.
And Blake Su, who had planned to dominate Bogut from the start, immediately locked onto him again as soon as he returned.
A 14-point deficit.
The Bucks desperately needed to close the gap.
But against the Suns, who had just climbed to the top of the West, that was easier said than done. As the game went on, with Steve Nash dishing out assists one after another, and Blake Su and Curry continuing to score,
the lead kept growing.
Less than half a quarter in, it had already passed 20.
The Bucks players were overwhelmed and growing desperate.
"Swish!"
When Blake Su knocked down another mid-range shot, pushing the lead to 24, the Bucks began to lose their will. Their energy faded, and their fight disappeared.
Bogut's mindset had also changed. At first, he wanted to help the team win and target Blake Su. Now, he didn't care about anything except teaching Blake Su a lesson.
With 4 minutes and 12 seconds left in the third quarter.
"Whoosh!"
From the left corner, Jennings used a pump fake to get Steve Nash off his feet, then burst along the baseline toward the rim. Ilyasova was there, and Blake Su was there too.
Blake Su bent his knees slightly, ready to step up for help defense.
"Whoosh!"
Jennings suddenly fired a pass to Bogut at the free-throw line. Bogut caught it, saw Blake Su turned slightly sideways under the rim, and his expression hardened.
"Now!"
With a low shout, Bogut took a step inside the free-throw line, grabbed the ball, and exploded upward, charging straight at Blake Su.
He was going for a dunk over Blake Su.
Blake Su didn't expect Bogut to go up like that. By the time he reacted, it was too late to jump. He held his ground, raising both hands to contest as much as possible.
"Bang!"
Bogut's solid frame slammed into him as he tried to power the ball into the rim. If it went in, it would have been a vicious dunk.
But things didn't go as planned.
Too focused on dunking over Blake Su, Bogut ignored his own limits. Taking off from a step inside the free-throw line, where he could barely dunk to begin with, and then colliding with Blake Su,
he lost much of his lift.
"Clang!"
He missed the dunk.
And worse, he couldn't grab the rim. Losing balance in midair, he fell backward, his body tilting as he crashed toward the floor.
Blake Su, who didn't have the strength advantage, was knocked back several steps. Seeing Bogut falling headfirst, he instinctively reached out to help, but couldn't do anything.
"Thud!"
A heavy sound echoed across the court.
Even though Bogut tried to brace himself with his arms and shoulders, the force still drove the back of his head into the floor.
The next moment.
Lying on the ground, Bogut began to convulse, slipping into a semi-conscious state.
That impact had given him a concussion.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The medical team rushed out again for emergency treatment. After the convulsions stopped, they placed Bogut on a stretcher and carried him off to the locker room.