Enes Kanter not letting 18 stitches in his mouth stop him
MILWAUKEE — Enes Kanter seems to play better with a stitched-up mouth.
He had another monstrous double-double outing Friday night, with 17 points and 18 rebounds, keeping the Knicks in the game throughout before Giannis Antetokounmpo’s game-winner in the Bucks’ 92-90 victory.
Kanter has had 18 stitches sewn into his mouth since Monday, making it tough to talk, but not too tough to be underneath the rim snatching offensive boards. He hauled in another eight on Friday, and is one of the league’s leaders.
“I’m giving the team so much confidence — I’m telling them whenever you shoot the ball, shoot it with confidence because I’m down there and I’ll go get the rebound,’’ Kanter said.
Coach Jeff Hornacek said Kanter has played like “a warrior’’ these past three games — hitting for 20 points and 20 rebound Tuesday against the Nets, and nearly matching those numbers in Boston and Milwaukee.
“You know at some point in the game he’s getting hit in the mouth,’’ Hornacek said. “You look at his lips, he’s a warrior out there, plays as hard as he can. He cleans up the misses. You can’t say enough good things about his effort because you know he’s not feeling great with stitches in his mouth. He wants to get out there.”
Asked if he enjoyed playing for recently fired Bucks coach Jason Kidd last season, Michael Beasley said, “I’m here now, so.”
Beasley was out of the rotation late last season in Milwaukee.