3 areas Giannis Antetokounmpo must improve against the Boston Celtics
The series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics is headed to Milwaukee for Game 3 Saturday with the series tied 1-1. The Bucks looked great in game one and stole home court, but Boston responded with a convincing 23-point beatdown in game two to gain some confidence as the series shifts to Milwaukee. It appears that this is going to be a tough, close, exciting series.
Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t been terrible by any means but hasn’t been his usual self against this stout Celtics defense that led the league in defensive rating this year. Here are some things that need to happen for him to get back on track in this series.
No. 1 – Giannis Antetokounmpo must convert when he gets into the paint
Giannis’ per game averages are still good in this series– 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game — but his efficiency has been very poor. Antetokounmpo is shooting just 38.5 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from three through two games. That field goal percentage would be the worst he has had in a playoff series since his first playoff series back in 2015.
Boston has defended him well and made things difficult, but some of this is due to Giannis just not converting as well as he normally does. From inside the paint, Antetokounmpo is shooting just 43.2 percent through these first two games, compared to 72.6 percent in round one against Chicago and 66.8 percent in the regular season, according to NBA.com/stats.
Giannis obviously does the most of his damage in the paint and closer to the basket. Boston has been physical and prevented him from getting there at times, but when he does get to his spots, he must take advantage. One of the most dominant paint players in the game simply cannot be shooting in the low 40s percentage-wise from that area.
Antetokounmpo has been below his typical field goal percentage from the restricted area right at the rim, but his biggest weakness right now are the shots coming in the “in-between” area. He is an abysmal 2-for-18 shooting from between 5-14 feet through the first two games of this series. He must be able to knock down more of these shots to get his offense going.
One thing that will help is if Giannis can find and attack more mismatches. He is shooting just 35 percent against his two primary defenders, Al Horford and Grant Williams. Against Robert Williams III, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown, however, he is shooting 64.2 percent. Forcing switches and getting other defenders besides Al Horford and Grant Williams on him will help Giannis’ offense a lot.