Superstar shutdown
Considering Giannis Antetokounmpo’s struggles, it’s remarkable that the Bucks were even in this game as it reached its final stages.
I flagged up just how well the Heat had defended Antetokounmpo in recent years in my Saturday morning preview piece, but even with that the focus was on how they’ve found ways to keep him below 20 points, rather than anticipating Miami holding the Greek to below 10 points on this occasion.
The truth is the toll of the back-to-back and accompanying travel looked to hit Antetokounmpo harder than any of his teammates, and he may well have struggled regardless of opponent. That was only further compounded by playing the Heat, who walled off the paint and ensured Antetokounmpo saw multiple bodies every time he got a touch near the basket.
This is an approach the Heat successfully implemented time and again against Jason Kidd‘s Bucks, yet it’s a much higher risk approach against this Milwaukee iteration. On even an average night, the Bucks would have knocked down a much higher percentage of their open shots and punished Miami for overloading on Giannis, but this was unfortunately far from an average night.
Still, the Heat deserve great credit for holding Antetokounmpo to just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. The Heat could be a first round playoff matchup for any of the top-three seeds, and considering their recent history against Miami, there may be no opponent in the entirety of the Eastern Conference better suited to throwing Antetokounmpo and the Bucks off their game.
The Bucks will next be in the action as the opening course of the NBA’s Christmas Day extravaganza, as they’ll face the New York Knicks in an 11am CT tip from Madison Square Garden.