Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ 113-92 scrimmage victory over Spurs – Hello again, Giannis
While the Bucks largely looked rusty, it was no surprise to see Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo waste little time rounding into his MVP form.
In his 21-and-a-half minutes of action, Antetokounmpo finished with a team-leading 22 points on 13 shots (1-of-5 from three, 3-for-8 from the foul line), along with four assists, three steals, three rebounds and two turnovers.
The Greek superstar was dialed in applying pressure on the rim and the Spurs clearly struggled in both slowing down the 25-year-old and protecting the basket from Antetokounmpo throwing down a variety of dunking finishes.
Where Antetokounmpo unsurprisingly struggled offensively was when opting to pull it up from the 3-point line and on his trips to the free throw line. Despite the confidence that Antetokounmpo has shown in practice settings launching from deep, it’s yet to translate consistently, as has been the case for most of his seven-year career.
Along with that, Antetokounmpo picked up all five of his fouls on the day over the first half alone and admittedly, a couple of them were truly questionable. Even one of them was overturned following a coach’s challenge.
But those were the only two sore spots in what was an otherwise sensational afternoon for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, and the reigning MVP is certainly ready to get back into the groove.