The Milwaukee Bucks have had another great season under the leadership of Head Coach Mike Budenholzer, ending the season with a league-best record of 58-24. As the team and fans await the start of their 2023 Playoff matchup with the Miami Heat, it gives us an opportunity to look back at the regular season and all the great moments.
There are plenty of brilliant team performances that spring to mind, and an exceptional 16-game win streak after the turn of the year really helped cement the number-one seed and make it a season to remember for players, staff, and fans. Having had the grades handed out to the players, it’s time to look back at some of the most memorable performances from Bucks players this NBA season.
Here are the three best individual Bucks performances of the 2022-23 regular season.
3 Best individual Bucks performances of the 2022-23 regular season – Giannis’ 50-piece double-double: 02-02-2023
One of the best victories of the 16-game win streak was against the Los Angeles Clippers back in February. The two stars of LA were held to quiet nights while Giannis Antetokounmpo went off by scoring 54 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in the nail-biting 106 to 105 win.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were both held to just 17 and 16 points respectively due to the Greek Freak’s presence and the Bucks as a whole showing great effort without the ball. It was a night where Antetokounmpo really needed to step up, Khris Middleton was still finding his feet and was the second top scorer with just 16 points and Jrue Holiday was the only other player to register double-digit points for Milwaukee.
As a team, the Bucks shot just 24.3 percent from deep, and it was key that the two-time MVP showed up and boy did he show up. Shooting 53.8 percent from the field and hitting 10 of his 15 free throws was integral in securing a key win, that ultimately built confidence and momentum to go on and win another 10 straight games.
What many forget from this game is the Bucks were down 87-74 with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter, when Giannis hit an open three to close the margin and build confidence for the final quarter. Again, down four with four minutes to play, he hit his second three of the game to make it a one-point game.
We all know the greatness of Giannis, but what summed this performance up was him being guarded by Ivica Zubac, and then the Clippers sending All-Defensive guys in Leonard and George over to help and yet he still couldn’t be stopped.