Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was, as always, extremely effective on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers. The seven-time All-Star finished with a game-high 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting, to go along with 18 rebounds, 11 assists, a steal, and two blocks.
However, not even Antetokounmpo’s 38th career triple-double was enough to lead the Bucks to a home victory over a determined Indiana side. In the end, the Pacers secured a big win at the Fiserv Forum, 122-113.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo Reacts to Pacers’ Defensive Strategy
While the Pacers were unable to prevent Giannis from dropping another 30-piece, the fact of the matter is that they still held him down significantly. You have to remember that Antetokounmpo dropped a career-high 64 points on Indiana the last time these two teams met, so cutting his output to half is an undeniably commendable effort from the Pacers.
The one thing that Indiana did well on Monday was shutting down Giannis’ post-game. The Pacers double-teamed Antetokounmpo each time he got the ball down low. They also showed him more help defense on his drives — a stark difference from their defensive scheme against the former back-to-back MVP during their last meeting.
Even Antetokounmpo acknowledged that the Pacers’ defensive game plan on him proved to be effective:
“I don’t remember posting up today. I couldn’t, they were double-teaming,” Antetokounmpo said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “So I knew that. Or whenever I drove the ball, they were all sucking in. So it’s an opportunity for my teammates to be aggressive, make shots and for me to make the right play to them. That’s pretty much it.
“I wish I played a little more one-on-one, but I couldn’t.“
The Pacers may have collectively outplayed Giannis on the defensive end on Monday night, but you can be sure that Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Bucks will make sure that this won’t be the case again on Wednesday when these two teams have their rematch in Indiana.
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