Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Win Over New York Knicks

The Greek Freak Can’t Be Stopped

We’ll get to the final shot in some greater detail in a little bit, but first of all it’s important to reflect that there’s no longer any real answer to the Giannis Antetokounmpo puzzle. For opposing teams, it’s simple: this guy is practically impossible to stop.

It’s easy to talk about Antetokounmpo hitting a new level, but it’s important to step past the emotional elements of that into the evidence of it in front of our eyes too.

Giannis has now scored 20 points or more in 13 straight games. He has scored 20 or more in 25 games this season too. That’s the same number of times that LeBron James has achieved that feat, one less than Stephen Curry and only two less than Kawhi Leonard.

Even better again, he knows how to take over games when it matters most, as he did in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Giannis closing a game is no longer just about highlight reel plays and thunderous dunks, although don’t worry, they haven’t gone away.

Instead though, Giannis’ threat is so great in its own right that once he drives, opposing teams are now reaching desperately to foul. That’s not a hacking strategy because Giannis is a bad free throw shooter, it’s just sheer panic.

For as much as Giannis can win games with a flashy individual play or shot, as he did at the buzzer against the Knicks, he’ll also win a whole host more at the line. In other words, let him play and he’ll beat you, send him to the line and he’ll beat you.