The Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off on Saturday night in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference in the early portion of the season. Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back, but the game was still hard fought for all 48 minutes. The Cavs beat the Bulls, 126-122, and they partially owe the victory to their most spectacular play of the night.
Josh Giddey got his ankles broken by De’Andre Hunter in the worst way possible
Josh Giddey got his ankles broken, almost literally.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
De’Andre Hunter put a nasty crossover on Josh Giddey midway through the third quarter, which made Giddey fall to the ground in pain as Hunter got an easy dunk. Giddey limped to the bench, and while he returned to the game shortly after, he looked hobbled the rest of the night. Giddey didn’t score after the injury. Without him at his best, the Cavs were able to steal the game late.
Watch Hunter’s crossover here. This isn’t exactly a literal ankle-breaker, but it sure looked like a literal ankle-sprainer.
It’s shocking that Giddey was able to return so quickly, but he clearly wasn’t himself, and Chicago lost because of it. Here’s an alternate angle of the play. Ankles aren’t supposed to bend this way.
That’s legitimately one of the most disgusting ankle-breaker crossovers I’ve ever seen. Hunter isn’t exactly known for his ball handling, but he made Giddey touch hardwood, and the Bulls star wasn’t the same after it.
Chicago was in a tough position at the end of the game because Coby White still hasn’t played this season with a calf injury, and Ayo Dosunmu was on a minutes restriction as he returns from a quad injury. Head coach Billy Donovan chose to ride Giddey at the end of the game, but he clearly had no burst and couldn’t beat anyone off the bounce. Dosumnu looked a lot healthier than Giddey after the injury even if he was on a minutes restriction.
Cavs big man Thomas Bryant was taunting Giddey by reenacting his stumble during the subsequent timeout. That’s not very nice.
The Bulls’ fantastic depth is a main reason for their shocking start, but injuries are already catching up to them. The Cavs didn’t have Darius Garland, Max Strus, or Larry Nance Jr. themselves.
Giddey won’t love this highlight going viral, but the fact that he’ll likely have to deal with ankle swelling for the next 24 hours is even worse.
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