Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 113-112 win over Charlotte Hornets

Putting the valuable in MVP

With the kind of MVP buzz he’s generated in the lead up to the start of the season, Giannis Antetokounmpo, for the most part, satiated the excitement all Bucks fans and more had in eagerly awaiting his and the team’s regular season debut Wednesday night.

Playing close to 35 minutes of action, Antetokounmpo put up 25 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field (0-for-2 from deep, 5-of-10 from the line), 18 rebounds, eight assists as well as eight turnovers, one block and was a team-high +11 on the night.

As you can see, it was far from an efficient night by Antetokounmpo’s lofty standards and there were miscues aplenty throughout his shifts in the contest, whether it was the multiple travel calls, offensive fouls or errant passes (Giannis’ eight turnovers nearly accounted for half of the Bucks’ 20 turnovers for the night).

With all that said, Antetokounmpo orchestrated an incredibly well rounded performance throughout the first half that had him flirting with a triple-double at that point in the night. That mostly came across in Giannis feeding his teammates to create great looks from beyond the arc and he gobbled up almost everything in sight when it came to corralling loose balls on the boards.

Giannis getting into foul trouble unsurprisingly showed how at a loss the Bucks were without his wide array of skills and overall guidance, which led to the Bucks showing the bad, bothersome habits down the final stretch that defined their season last year and the previous coaching regime’s tenure.

Again, it was far from a flawless 2018-19 regular season debut performance from Giannis last night. Yet between the gaudy stat line he finished with and the disparity in the team’s performance with and without him on the floor, Antetokounmpo’s play was clearly enough to help guide the Bucks to a gutsy win over the Hornets.