Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Loss To New York Knicks
By Ti Windisch
Giannis Trying To Save The Day
Hero ball is not a smart idea in the modern NBA. Efficiency is becoming king, and contested long twos are the enemy of efficiency. Ball movement is smart because catch-and-shoot looks are better than off-the-dribble looks for almost every player.
When the Bucks needed a basket, Giannis took the ball and tried to dribble against Lance Thomas, and cook him again. These home-and-home games make for a playoff atmosphere, and the added familiarity and intensity took effect during that sequence.
Giannis mis-dribbled once, and that was all Thomas needed. He dove down and grabbed the ball, and threw it to Courtney Lee for a game-clinching dunk. This was not the only time Giannis made a bad decision late.
He took multiple tough, covered jumpers in the fourth quarter. Giannis ended the fourth one-for-eight from the field. Some of those were decent shots blocked by Porzingis and Kyle O’Quinn, but some of them were deep twos and threes that really shouldn’t have been taken.
Seeing a confident Giannis is awesome. The Greek Freak has reason to be confident. But there’s a difference between confidence and being too confident. Giannis crossed that line for stretches of the fourth quarter, and while Jabari sat around mostly watching the game slipped out of reach for the Bucks.