Giannis great, but Bucks need teamwork
Superstar can’t do it by himself
• His left knee attempted to limbo without his permission, yet here was Giannis Antetokounmpo performing at his Greek Freak-ian max only nine days removed from that violent contortion. He spun and dunked. He launched his body into the lane. He pulled a few smooth fadeaways out of a secret stash.
By the end of Game 2, Antetokounmpo had scored 42 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked three shots. He had established that, though banged up, he is the most dominant force in the NBA Finals. Still, he walked off the court dissatisfied Thursday night, knowing his Milwaukee Bucks trail the Phoenix Suns two games to none.
Their superstar’s greatness was on display, but the Bucks needed greater. To start this best-of-seven series, Phoenix has defended its home court, won both games by double figures and punished Milwaukee with star power and balance. The Suns look like the better team. The Bucks look disjointed and confused after rallying without Antetokounmpo to close the Eastern Conference final.
As the series shifts to Milwaukee, the pressure is on the Bucks to find themselves quickly and hold serve.
At their best, they play off Antetokounmpo’s rim-attacking style and knack for making plays for others and then compete like crazy on defence. At their best, they are an effective mix of skill, toughness and chemistry. Right now, though, they are uncertain and preoccupied with watching the Giannis show.
“We’ve been here before,” Antetokounmpo said, ever confident. “We know what the deal is.”
During the conference semifinals, Milwaukee trailed Brooklyn 2-0 and exited Game 2 wearing the shame of a 39-point loss. The Bucks came back and won that series. They also seemed in trouble against Atlanta in the conference final when, with the series tied at 2-2, they found out Antetokounmpo would be out with that horrible-looking left knee injury.
They know trouble, and they know how to recover. But they haven’t had to do it in the Finals. This is a new deal, no matter how familiar it seems. They can’t waste any more time getting comfortable.
“Personally, I think to win this series, it’s going to be all mental,” Antetokounmpo said. “I feel like there’s so much talent on both teams. It’s going to be mental. It’s going to be the constant pressure. That’s what I want to put to the other team. We have to keep coming over and over again as a team. Keep being aggressive and keep pressuring them and having that constant pressure putting on them. That’s what I was trying to do.”
It’s an unfair request, yet it will be asked of Giannis anyway: What more can you do? On a bad knee, he has averaged 31 points and 14.5 rebounds in this series. He has played 75 minutes, and when he’s on the floor, the Bucks have outscored the Suns by four points. In the 21 minutes he has rested, Phoenix has been an astounding 27 points better than Milwaukee.
So far, we’ve seen Antetokounmpo elevate in a manner befitting a superstar. Critics often target his obvious flaws — shaky jumper, poor free throw shooter, unreliable counter moves — but he’s a two-time MVP at age 26, and the face of a franchise that has returned to the Finals for the first time since 1974. His best is historically significant. But his teammates need to play with the confidence and freedom they showed when he was injured. They’re struggling and falling into a bad habit of deferring too much.
“Yeah, just try to find that balance,” said Khris Middleton, who made just five of his 16 shots in Game 2. “At the same time, try to play through him when he has it rolling like that. When he sees a crowd, we have to be able to help him out.”
Middleton and Jrue Holiday form a stellar two-way backcourt, but the Suns’ duo of Devin Booker and Chris Paul is cooking them. The Phoenix tandem combined for another 54 points Thursday night. For the series, they are up to 113 points. According to Elias Sports, that makes them the highest-scoring backcourt through the first two Finals games since 1971, when starters were first tracked.
Antetokounmpo is preaching composure and unity. He stepped back from frustration to offer perspective.
“We should be proud of ourselves, and we should just go out there and enjoy the game to the fullest,” he said. “We haven’t been here since 1974. We made a great run so far this year, and we have to enjoy this, this part. It’s kind of hard to enjoy the game when you’re losing, but we’re going to figure it out. We’re going to figure it out.”
Antetokounmpo can’t play much better than he has. But he can make his greatness more contagious. The Suns could live with another 42-point explosion if the trade-off is that the rest of the Bucks shoot 27 of 71 (38 per cent) again.
Antetokounmpo is doing amazing things while ailing. His challenge now is to leverage his dominance to activate Middleton, Holiday and the rest of the team. It’s the burden of the NBA superstar: Great is always asked to be greater.
WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE. WE KNOW WHAT THE DEAL IS.