WHAT was Greek Freak’s highlight play for the Bucks in the NBA?
NEW YORK— Giannis Antetokounmpo made the first game-winning shot of his young Milwaukee Bucks career on Wednesday. And his coach believes there’s more of that coming.
“He (Antetokounmpo) is going to play thousands of games so he is going to have thousands of opportunities to hit gamewinners,” said Bucks coach Jason Kidd. “Tonight, I thought he got to his strength and he took his time. It wasn’t a rushed shot. It shows his growth.”
The “Greek Freak” drained a step-back jumper as time expired to lift Milwaukee to a 105-104 NBA victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, going on to post his 16th doubledouble of the season with 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, who improved to 18-16.
His streak of 13 straight games with 20 or more points is the longest by a Milwaukee player since Michael Redd had 14 in a row in 2006.
Lance Thomas did all he could to defend the shot, but after dribbling through traffic and turning, Antetokounmpo managed to make some space and seal the win for a Bucks team that had battled back from a 16point third-quarter deficit.
“I work on that shot a lot,” Antetokounmpo said. “I was patient. I knew I could shoot the ball over the top of anybody at any time. I wanted to make sure I took the last shot.” “The guy who makes the shot gets all the credit, but passing the ball, getting the ball to Giannis is important,” Kidd said.
Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. He came up with a huge defensive play with eight seconds remaining, slapping Derrick Rose’s inbounds pass off the Knicks star’s leg to set up Milwaukee’s final possession.
Officials initially called the ball out of bounds off the Bucks, but reversed that decision after a video review.