Giannis Antetokounmpo dominates, inches closer to rare company as Bucks beat Wizards

Coming off a thrilling win over the Dallas Mavericks, the Milwaukee Bucks took the floor to try and keep the ball rolling against the Washington Wizards.

For much of the game, things were pretty close, as both teams traded blows offensively. It looked like an All-Star game on the court at times due to the lack of defense on display. Thankfully, the Bucks got it together and picked up a few stops in the final minutes to ultimately come out on top. They left the arena with a 142-129 victory and kept up their recent hot streak.

Giannis Antetokounmpo dominates, inches closer to rare company as Bucks beat Wizards

Over the last several contests, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been a monster in the best way possible, which continued with a Herculean effort against Washington. The Greek Freak finished with 42 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and a block and steal each. He did all of this in just a tick under 34 minutes total, showing he certainly made the most of every second he was on the court.

The biggest thing that stood out from Antetokounmpo's performance was his efficiency. En route to scoring 42 points, he shot 20-of-23 from the floor. Shooting 87 percent, Giannis tallied his third game ever with 40 points on 85 percent or better shooting, now trailing Wilt Chamberlain's four games of the same criteria by just one, per StatMamba. That's incredible stuff.

After the game, Coach Adrian Griffin summed it up by saying "Unstoppable. He's literally unstoppable" when talking about Antetokounmpo's night.

While Giannis was the main storyline, there were plenty of other strong performances in this outing. Damian Lillard had 22 points and seven assists, having made an impact even with his tough shooting night. Khris Middleton had one of his better performances of the season in limited minutes, having hit the 18-point mark courtesy of many tough shots from inside the arc while also getting seven assists.

Middleton also passed Hall of Famer Sidney Moncrief for fourth on Milwaukee's all-time scoring list.

Brook Lopez and Malik Beasley both clocked in 16-point nights to round out the starting lineup, as the former got it going in the paint while the latter stretched to floor with his shooting. Both were very efficient from the floor, having shot above 55 percent. On the other end, Lopez continued his recent run of shot-blocking dominance, having tallied five more blocks.

To give the Bucks their sixth double digit scorer of the game, Bobby Portis checked in off the bench and gave the team 17 points on 61.5 percent shooting. The big man has given the team a big spark lately, and he made sure that remained true against his former team. He was particularly good in the third quarter, where he scored six points on three incredibly tough shots.

On the other side of the floor, the Wizards also had six double-digit scorers, led by Jordan Poole and his 30 points. Milwaukee's defense undoubtedly was not its sharpest in this one, and it was not solely due to their efforts on the perimeter, which has mostly been the case, as they allowed 84 points in the paint. That just cannot happen. Still, it was great that they overcame that with a win.

Now, the next game on Milwaukee's schedule is one everyone has had circled on their calendars for quite a while now, as they'll take on the Boston Celtics. That should be a great one with plenty of fireworks on display. Hopefully the Bucks can keep their recent run of positive showings going.

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