Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was dominant once again as he scored 37 points against the Indiana Pacers despite losing 128-119 to the Indiana Pacers. This game was played in Las Vegas, Nevada because it was the in-season tournament semifinals.
Milwaukee will not get a chance to win the in-season crown this season, but this is a good experience for them for what later in the NBA season will be like when trying to win the NBA Finals. Along with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring 37 points, he also grabbed 10 rebounds, recorded two assists, and blocked two shots.
This is the third consecutive game that Antetokounmpo has scored 30 or more points in a game and it has happened in the last four of five contests for him. He is averaging 30.5 PPG this season and that is ranked fourth in the NBA this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo will be an MVP candidate if he continues to play like this for Milwaukee this season. However, Antetokounmpo didn’t like what he saw against the Indiana Pacers as a collective unit. He said to Matthew Dugandzic of Sports Illustrated:
“We have to be more organized. We have to know what we are trying to get down the stretch. At the end of the day, like down the stretch, it’s about effort and attitude. You have to go out there and take it. I feel like the Indiana team, that’s what they did.“
Giannis Antetokounmpo Wasn’t the Reason Why the Milwaukee Bucks Lost and They Will Need to Be Better on Defense Moving Forward
The Bucks’s defense has been abysmal all season long and luckily it is only December and they have at least four months to try and fix the defense. They have the seventh-worst defense in the NBA this season at giving up 118.7 points per game. Antetokounmpo can be dominant all he wants night in and night out.
If they can’t stop anyone else from scoring, it isn’t going to matter when it gets to crunch time in the NBA playoffs. Anteteokounmpo always brings the energy every single night for his basketball team on both ends of the floor. Indiana wanted it more than Milwaukee did on Thursday. This is a learning experience for them and despite the scoring from Antetokounmpo, they are going to need much more than that moving forward.