Friday night, April 22, will remain a mark in the history of Argentine basketball and, especially, in the personal archive of Luca Vildoza, who made his NBA debut in the game that his new team, the Milwaukee Bucks, defeated he 111- 81 as a guest. with the Chicago Bulls and (also granted) some play that smiled and celebrated with his teammates.

Taking advantage of the huge advantage his team built (it reached 37 points), Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer rested the usual starters and minutes on players who don’t typically have them in volume. That opened the door for the player from Mar del Plata, who stepped on the court for the first time in a major league game on the planet with 8.02 left at the end of the fourth quarter (he replaced Pat Connaughton).

Although in his first intervention in the game he missed a three-point shot, he immediately retaliated: he dropped a defensive rebound and served a rim-to-rim assist to Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis ’older brother. This was the first of three assists-goals he shared. The most luxurious was a belt again for Antetokounmpo, who ended the game with a powerful dunk.

Vildoza, 26, remained on the field until the end of the game and thus completed his dream night with 482 seconds of work. In that time he added 3 points (he hit 1 triple on 3 attempts), 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 rebound. And he also earned the recognition of his peers.

In this way, the former Quilmes and Baskonia player became the 16th Argentine to make his NBA debut since Juan Ignacio Sánchez opened the door on Oct. 31, 2000 wearing a Philadelphia 76ers jersey. In addition, he is the third player in league history to play his first official game in a playoff series.

The national base team already had NBA experience last year, but it didn’t end in the worst way possible. Taken by the New York Knicks, he played two games in the Summer League (a pre-season contest organized by the league and where teams train their new players), but an injury to his right foot prevented him from continuing to play, he was forced to undergo the knife in October and caused the Knicks to sever his contract.

Since then, the man has not been active again from Mar del Plata until the Bucks recruited him as a free agent earlier this month and offered him a contract for the rest of this season and for the entire Next. As a result, on Friday he fulfilled his desire to play in the world basketball elite.

The debut was not only brilliant because of his performance, but also because his team, defending tournament champions, who beat the Bulls at United Center, recovered from the defeat they suffered Wednesday at their home and got 2 -1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.

Despite the absence of Khris Middleton (who will lose the rest of this series due to a left knee injury), the Bucks landed with amazing ease. The top scorer of the night was Grayson Allen, who added 22, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo (18 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists in 29 minutes) and Bobby Portis (18 points and 16 rebounds).

The Bulls, who were whistled by the public at their stadium, suffered from poor provision of their key figures. Montenegrin center Nikola Vucevic had 19 points, while shooting guard Zach Lavine and forward DeMar DeRozan had 15 and 11 points, respectively.

The best-of-seven series will have its fourth game on Sunday again at United Center and then return to Milwaukee for game five on Wednesday. The winner of this bracket will meet in the conference semifinals along with the winner of the match between Boston and Brooklyn (the Celtics won 2-0).