With a turnaround 16-footer at the buzzer, Giannis Antetokounmpo secured victory for the Milwaukee Bucks in a back-and-forth, tooth-and-nail matchup with the Pacers. He finished the night with a game-high 33 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, going 14-of-21 on field goals.
Up by double-digits halfway through the fourth quarter, the Bucks shouldnโt have needed more Giannis heroics, but they did. With 14.5 seconds on the game clock, he brought the ball up the floor in a tie game knowing one thing: he had to be the one to get off a final shot before the buzzer sounded.
Make or miss, you live with the result. Donโt put it up? That would keep Antetokounmpo up at night.
Giannis should be able to sleep soundly after executing final play to perfection
โWeโve been in this position many times with this time,โ Giannis said. โI just want to make sure I take the last shot. A possession or two before I shot a shot where I was short. The only thing I was thinking about was just, start your dribble at like six seconds. Shoot it at like two or one second, and just shoot it long.โ
Giannis got a matchup with the smaller Aaron Nesmith and backed him down into the paint, setting up the space for a turnaround fadeaway. With forward Isaiah Jackson flying over to help, Giannis sank the dagger in both their faces with 0.6 seconds remaining.
โYou can live if you miss. You cannot live if you do not shoot it. I can go to sleep if I take the shot, miss the shot. Come in the locker room and look my guys in the eye and say, โMy bad. Iโm going to make the next one.โ But if you donโt shoot it, it kind of hurts.โ
Especially this season, when the Bucks donโt have a co-closer like Damian Lillard or Khris Middleton, itโs up to Giannis to take over in crunch time. Not surprisingly, he rose to the occasion Monday night in Indiana.
โSo yeah, Iโve been in that position many times. Sometimes Iโve missed, sometimes Iโve made it.โ Giannis smirked. โPeople donโt remember the times you miss, they remember only the times you make. So Iโm happy about that.โ
He certainly left plenty of Bucks fans ecstatic, as well as his swarming teammates, when the ball went through the hoop. Now 5-2 on the season, Milwaukee travels to Toronto for the second leg of a back-to-back on Tuesday.
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