It was a pretty hectic year to be a Milwaukee Bucks fan in 2023, and it was a year filled with ups and downs. The team saw great regular season success in the first few months of 2023 before a very early and disappointing playoff exit, but they followed that up with one of the wildest and most exciting offseasons in team history. Here are some of the best moments from the year.
5. Jrue Holiday goes off for 51/8/8, Giannis has 38/17/12 in win over Pacers (March 29)
One of the craziest regular season games of the year came in a March road game against the Indiana Pacers. The Bucks were looking to lock up the number one seed in the East, and they had one of the more memorable offensive performances in recent history. Jrue Holiday scored 27 points on 11-of-14 field goal shooting with four assists, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Oh wait, those were just their first half numbers.
By the 2:33 mark of the third quarter, Jrue Holiday had already set a new career-high with 42 points, and at the end of the quarter he had 45 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, while Giannis had already put up a 33 point, 14 rebound, and 11 assist triple-double. They didn't need to play a lot in the final quarter, but by the end of the game Jrue had put up 51 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, and Giannis had 38 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists. That's 89 points, 25 assists, and 20 rebounds combined between the two players.
Jrue Holiday was the first Bucks player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to have 50 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in a game, and Giannis was the first player since Kareem in 1975 to have 38 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists in a game... And they happened in the same game! And as if their overall offensive output wasn't insane enough, their efficiency took it to another level. They combined to shoot 71 percent from the field (Jrue 20-of-30, Giannis 14-of-18) and neither player even played 33 minutes.
It was truly one of the best performances from a duo in the same game in NBA history.