Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo has figured out Al Horford, Boston Celtics

Following his horrid performance in Game 1, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has not only regrouped, but found the formula to take apart the Boston Celtics and exact his revenge on their versatile center, Al Horford.

It couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for the Milwaukee Bucks in their Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series against the Boston Celtics.

While they had built their state of the art arena, Fiserv Forum, into a fortress throughout the regular season and in their first round sweep of the Detroit Pistons, the Bucks came out flat-footed and were left stunned by a 22-point defeat the Celtics handed them on that cool, breezy Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee a week-and-a-half ago.

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While nearly every player and every facet of their performance that day didn’t resemble the 60-win team that had bowled through their opponents in the regular season, it was the performance of Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo that was the most atypical on the day.

The prohibitive favorite for this year’s Most Valuable Player award was stonewalled by the Celtics’ defense and their veteran center Al Horford, who put in a masterclass performance in how to slow down and limit Antetokounmpo on his way to his preferred spot on the floor, that being directly at the basket.

What’s more is that the hustle plays and general little things that have been consistent with the do-it-all nature of Antetokounmpo’s work throughout the year were missing, which left the Bucks rudderless and lacking direction to bring themselves out of the mess they dug themselves in.

All of that resulted in an outing where Antetokounmpo finished with 22 points on 7-of-21 shooting from the field (3-of-5 from three, 5-of-10 from the free throw line), eight rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block and was a -24 in over 34 minutes of action.

While there were plenty of fingers being pointed in many directions from Bucks fans, who were dealt a wake up call just like the team itself, my colleague and BTBP co-site expert Adam McGee shone a light on Antetokounmpo’s disastrous Game 1 performance the following day, closing out his piece with what he felt was the biggest improvement the team needed in order to bounce back in the series:

"“More than anything else, the Bucks need one adjustment most of all heading into Game 2. They don’t need to hastily scrap a gameplan that has served them so well up until this point, nor do they necessarily need to notably upend the starting lineup or the rotation.They just need Antetokounmpo to watch the film, stew on Sunday’s disappointment, and deliver the kind of responses he’s produced routinely over the past two-and-a-half years or so. There’s no shame in Antetokounmpo having a poor game, but there’s equally no reason to doubt his ability to bounce back in dominant fashion.”"

With that same sentiment reportedly being shared by his older brother Thanasis through a conversation over the phone after the Game 1 loss, it’s safe to say that Antetokounmpo literally heeded the call, having turned his play in the series completely around to his normal, dominating standards.

Since Game 1, Antetokounmpo has crept back into the scoring groove that he carved out throughout the regular season, scoring 29 points on 16 shots in Game 2, 31 on 8-of-13 shooting in Game 3 and 39 points on 22 tries from the field on Monday night.

Those showings have all elevated his scoring average for the series’ four games so far to 30.5 points on shooting splits of .521/.467/.683 to go along with his 11. 5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks.

Frankly, those numbers sum up just how all encompassing and stark Antetokounmpo’s turnaround in the series has been since that Game 1 lapse. But digging further, Antetokounmpo’s success from Game 2 onwards starts with how he’s solved Horford’s defending to crack open Boston’s seemingly stout defense and forced it to bend to his will.

In Game 1, Antetokounmpo was limited to just 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field in the 31 possessions Horford was matched up on him that afternoon (coincidentally, all three of Antetokounmpo’s makes in Game 1 all came from beyond the arc). To make matters worse, the Bucks were outscored by -23.4 points per 100 possessions in the 22 minutes that Antetokounmpo and Horford were both on the floor, per NBA.com/stats.

Game 2 saw Anetokounmpo go 3-of-7 from the field, including one three and four free throws, all of which helped give him 13 of his 29 points when Horford was matched up on him for 29 possessions. This time, the Bucks took full advantage of the 19 minutes the two shared the floor as the Bucks outscored the Celtics by +11.8 points per 100 possessions in the win.

With the series switching over to Boston for Games 3 and 4, Antetokounmpo made a point to blow up the Celtics’ specialized gameplan by wearing down Horford with powerful drive after powerful drive. The three-time All-Star converted 16 of his 23 shots from the field, went 2-of-6 from deep and sank 11 free throws to give him 44 of his 80 total points in the 91 possessions Horford was matched up on him over both tilts.

Meanwhile, the Bucks outscored the Celtics by +5.7 points per 100 possessions in 30 minutes Antetokounmpo and Horford were on the floor against each other for Game 3 and ran it back again for Game 4 by outscoring Boston +6.0 points per 100 possessions in the 31 minutes the two were facing up against each other.

In each passing game in the Bucks’ series against the Celtics, Antetokounmpo’s strength, intelligence and perseverance has come to the fore just as the Bucks’ widespread adjustments and deep contributions have themselves.

We’re long past the point of wondering where Antetokounmpo stands in the pantheon of players in today’s NBA as he’s unquestionably among the elite of the elite and it can be debated whether he’s still only scratching the surface of his playing peak.

But that Game 1 performance where Horford physically overwhelmed and humbled Antetokounmpo raised the usual host of questions regarding whether the intricate strategy the Celtics deployed could perhaps be the very thing that makes him look human, should it be sustainable over a seven-game series.

But just as this Bucks team has done all throughout the year, Antetokounmpo has emphatically proven that while he can get knocked down just as everyone can, it doesn’t take all that long for him to get back up and look like his unstoppable himself again.