After having been sidelined with a sprained ankle last time out, Giannis Antetokounmpo made sure to make his return to action a memorable one.
Antetokounmpo led the way for the Milwaukee Bucks in their thrilling 117-114 win over the Brooklyn Nets Sunday afternoon that had all of the feels for a playoff preview, which could come as early as the Conference Semifinals based on the current standings.
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Scoring a season-high 49 points on 21-for-36 shooting from the field and 4-or-8 from 3-point range, Antetokounmpo was clearly in his zone as he tore apart the Nets’ defense. In fact, Antetokounmpo logged the fifth-highest usage percentage for a single game in his career yesterday, per StatMuse.
As the reigning MVP saved his best when rampaging towards the rim and scoring 28 paint points and often with DeAndre Jordan on the floor. In quite the reversal from when the Bucks first met up against the Nets earlier this year, Antetokounmpo scored 30 points on 13-for-22 shooting (3-for-6 from downtown) over the 23.75 partial possessions that Jordan covered him, per NBA.com/stats.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was very comfortable putting up shots against the Nets
While Antetokounmpo was unstoppable driving towards the basket and uncharacteristically pouring in a season-high four triples, the Greek superstar was very comfortable from farther in the paint and pulling up from mid-range. He was certainly comfortable enough to launch more jumpers than some Bucks fans are probably willing to admit at times, but I digress.
The fact that Jordan or Blake Griffin or the Nets as a whole continually steadfastly played off of Antetokounmpo in order to keep him away from the paint and the hoop only opened the door for the two-time MVP to put up what was essentially practice shots.
Antetokounmpo’s scoring outburst at the start of the third quarter showed the full breadth of how comfortable he was in knocking down shots over the top of Jordan throughout the day. And he had his step back jumper rolling in particular as seen in the clip below.
On the day, Antetokounmpo shot 10-for-20 on jump shots in the Bucks’ win over the Nets, which includes going 6-for-11 on shots taken in the paint and outside of the restricted area and 3-of-7 on mid-range looks. Along with that, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann noted in his latest power rankings column that Antetokounmpo matched his career high of hitting seven field goals outside of the paint.
Given the struggles he has faced in breaking down the walls of defenders that have slowed him down in the Bucks’ last two playoff runs, the importance of Antetokounmpo developing counters to his rim-wrecking aggression has been paramount. Watch any warm up routine of Antetokounmpo’s before games and the shots like the one seen above has been tinkered with endlessly.
The good news on that front is that Antetokounmpo’s seeing the rewards on those shots. Even as he’s missed some time since the All-Star break, Antetokounmpo is 33-for-71 on shots taken in the paint and outside of the restricted area (46.5 percent) and is 22-of-58 on his 3-point shots (37.9 percent).
The willingness that Antetokounmpo has gradually shown over time and how much more fluid and comfortable he has looked in attempting shots inside the paint and beyond has been palpable to see. But as Antetokounmpo mentioned to ESPN’s Malika Andrews, don’t mistake this season-high performance as a way him trying to duel back and forth with Nets superstar Kevin Durant, who finished with 42 points on 16-for-33 shooting on the day:
"“Nobody in this world can go back and forth with KD,” Antetokounmpo said. “He’s been one of the greatest scorers to ever play this game. I was just trying to do my job, get to my spots and execute and help my team win.”"
It certainly won’t be as easy as Antetokounmpo made it look Sunday and whether Brooklyn will continue to live with with Antetokounmpo gets is the big question going into a playoff series. But the progress the two-time MVP has been making in the biggest weakness of his game could make it a different story for the success he and the Bucks as a whole hope to achieve in the postseason.