As always, Giannis Antetokounmpo did all he could to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to victory on Sunday night against the Utah Jazz. The eight-time All-Star carried much of the load for his team all night long, finishing with 33 points on 11-of-15 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds, 13 assists, and a block in 40 minutes of action.
It was all for nothing, though, as the Jazz still came out on top, 123-108.
Doc Rivers Calls Out Milwaukee Bucks
After the game, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers had nothing but high praise for Antetokounmpo. In fact, the tenured shot-caller believes that Giannis would have had a much bigger night had his teammates been more efficient:
“He should have had 30 assists,” Rivers joked, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “But really, he could have had a 20-assist night easy, if you go back and look at the shots that he got guys.
“I love the way he’s playing right now. He’s still aggressive. He’s taken … the stuff we’ve done with him on the post. There were three times where he just took his time, let them come, he actually dragged them back, the old (Charles) Barkley thing, which we were talking to him about, and then, you just pick guys apart. But you gotta make those shots, otherwise they’re going to keep doing it.”
To be fair, Bobby Portis and Malik Beasley stepped it up in this one, scoring 27 and 16 points, respectively. Portis, who got the spot start with both Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez out of commission, went 11-of-20 from the field with four triples. Beasley, on the other hand, went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc on another hot shooting night.
Damian Lillard scored just 12 points in this one, though, going 1-of-8 from distance and 5-of-18 overall. Nobody else on the team scored more than 10 points, with the Bucks shooting 15-of-41 from 3-point territory.
As Rivers said, Giannis could have had an even better performance if only his teammates made their shots count. Milwaukee would have probably escaped with a victory as well.
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