MILWAUKEE– When the final buzzer sounded in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 127-120 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons, Giannis Antetokounmpo walked to midcourt and asked the crowd inside Fiserv Forum to make some noise. The fans obeyed with MVP chants after another spectacular effort from their hero.
Antetokounmpo scored 59 points on 21 of 34 field goals and 16 of 17 from the free throw line for the second-highest scoring total of his career (career high is 64 points) and the best by a player this season. . He added 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and three blocks for good measure to give his team its second straight win for the first time this season.
“I’m not conversant enough in the English language or any other language to find new ways to describe Giannis’ brilliance,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said. “To be able to see it and be a part of it for as long as I’ve been here (it’s been seven years now) and see how it was tonight, still seeing new things. It’s very special. I’ll appreciate it.” and let it inspire me too.”
The Greek Freak started the night by scoring 22 points in the first quarter (the most he has scored in a first quarter of his career) and was the only Bucks player to make a shot in the first 13 minutes and 47 seconds of the game. . . But as impressive as Antetokounmpo was early on, that wasn’t a winning formula, even with Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis out.
“It’s funny how a coach thinks,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We called a timeout and I said, ‘Okay, Giannis has 22 of our 24, this is not good.'”
The Bucks fell behind by double digits early, and trailed by as many as 18 early in the third quarter. They were still struggling to find life at the end of that frame when Isaiah Stewart decided to provide it to them. With just over three minutes left in the third, he tackled Antetokounmpo by grabbing his shirt. The refs went to the monitor and raised the foul to Flagrant 2, resulting in an ejection for the Pistons bad boy.
“I’ve been in that position many times in my life,” Antetokounmpo said. “I have two older brothers who pushed me to the ground, they were hard on me, especially Thanasis. They’ve hit me so many times that it doesn’t affect me anymore. All I could think about was getting up and trying to make two free throws.
“At the same time, that’s a dangerous play. It’s not a basketball play. And I think the referees did a great job of making the right decision.”
Suddenly, the crowd lit up and so did the Bucks, who came back to take the lead heading into the fourth. During the regulation phase, it was a back-and-forth affair. Ironically, Antetokounmpo almost cost the Bucks the game with a controversial foul on Ron Holland with one second remaining.
However, the ball didn’t stay and Holland missed both free throws to send the game to overtime. And Antetokounmpo wasn’t going to waste the Bucks’ second chance. He scored or assisted on 14 of the Bucks’ 16 points in the extra frame, including a dunk to ice the game with 30.5 seconds left.
Between his own baskets and those he created with his assists, Antetokounmpo accounted for 76 of the Bucks’ 127 points (63.3%) that night.
This was his 10th career 50-point game, which is tied with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in Bucks history, and his ninth game with at least 50 points and 10 rebounds, which ranks third in NBA history only behind Elgin Baylor (16) and Wilt Chamberlain (118).
“At the end of the day, you’re here to do a job, which is to compete,” Antetokounmpo said. “You’re not going to win every time, but at least all you can do is compete and hope your teammates follow you. I don’t think I’m special, I’m just happy that my teammates were able to win.” “Go out and compete to get two wins, and now we can take advantage of this.”
This has been a frustrating start to the season for the Bucks, who opened 2-8 and have vultures circling in case they consider blowing it up. That’s unlikely to happen, especially if they continue to get positive results. After Wednesday’s win, they won consecutive games for the first time all season and improved to 4-8.
It’s still not where they want to be, but in the weak Eastern Conference they are just 1.5 games out of fourth place. And as long as Antetokounmpo remains willing and able to put them on their backs, they’ll have a fighting chance.
