Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks win at Orlando Magic: Giannis Antetokounmpo continues his streak
Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a one game absence in a big way, continuing his streak of consecutive games of 30 or more points, extending the streak to a career-high seven games, one shy of the franchise record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Giannis will have the opportunity to tie the record on Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings in front of a home crowd.
Giannis finished with 34 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. All that on effective 12-of-21 shooting, including 2-of-4 behind the 3-point line and a respectable 8-of-11 from the free throw line again.
Giannis is also nipping at the heels of teammate Bobby Portis in double-doubles as this game was his 13th such game of the season.
I want to give credit to Marques Johnson who during the broadcast made a great point about Giannis Antetokounmpo and diagnosing the defense being played against him. Opponents know he’s not the best shooter, so they give him extra space, daring him to shoot jump shots, which he did effectively in this game as previously mentioned. That said, Marques Johnson made a comment that Giannis isn’t just looking for open jump shots when teams give him that large of a cushion and made the comment that Giannis uses that open space as a “runway” to gain speed and prepare to go around the defender.
Very interesting thought that the defense teams are trying to use to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo could actually be their downfall and fueling the jet for the runway Marques Johnson was talking about.