Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 110-99 loss to Houston Rockets

Greek Freak mode

With the level of star power coming through for the night in the Rockets’ pair of star guards, James Harden and Chris Paul, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was more than willing to meet both on their level on Wednesday night.

Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field (6-of-9 from the free throw line), seven rebounds, six turnovers, two blocks, a steal and an assist each and was a -11 in over 37-and-a-half minutes.

The first half was tough sledding for the two-time All-Star and it wasn’t exactly shocking to see the Bucks struggle to score, much less generate quality looks in half court situations with Antetokounmpo not regularly featuring in the team’s offensive plans.

With that said, Antetokounmpo’s foul trouble may have played a factor into that and his overall timidness as he picked up two fouls during his run in the first quarter.

That proved to be a different story in the second half as Giannis caught up to speed throughout the third quarter by scoring over half of his scoring output for the night in the period, ratcheting up the aggressiveness coming out of the break. Unfortunately, that didn’t carry over into the fourth quarter for the 23-year-old as he just chipped in a couple of more scores at the rim and at the free throw line.

Through all of the adversity and frustration he endured during the game, it turned out to be a productive night for Antetokounmpo individually. Of course, that’s a fleeting silver lining, considering the result.