Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have been grabbing most of the headlines after they made their highly-anticipated debut for the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday. The new superstar pairing showed flashes of brilliance in their limited time on the floor, and it resulted in a convincing 108-97 victory over a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers side.
After the game, Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin was understandably delighted with what he saw from his new star duo. However, that wasn’t the only focus of his attention.
Adrian Griffin Reacts to Preseason Win Vs. Lakers
Grififn was all praises for Giannis and Lillard after the win. At the same time, however, the first-year shot-caller also had to heap praise on the rest of squad for what they showed agianst the Lakers:
“Today was a great first step in the right direction,” Griffin said (h/t Dave McMenamin of ESPN). “You can see those guys love playing together already. And not just Dame and Giannis, but everyone was just pulling for each other.”
Seeing Giannis and Dame get things off on the right foot is an extremely important step for the Bucks. However, equally noteworthy is the fact that the rest of the team played well too. Building proper chemistry is going to be one of, if not the biggest challenge Milwaukee will face this coming season, so it’s definitely great to see them all on the same page on Sunday.
Milwaukee Bucks Came to Play
As Griffin said, it’s not just Giannis and Lillard who deserve the recognition.
New point guard Cameron Payne played in just his second game for the Bucks, and he came off the bench behind Lillard for 12 points and seven assists. Pat Connaughted flirted with a double-double in 24 minutes of action with 12 points (all triples) and eight rebounds, while Bobby Portis went for 12 and eight in 21 minutes on the floor.
The young guns also stepped up in their limited run, with MarJon Beauchamp going for eight points, four rebounds, a steal, and a block in just 15 minutes. Rookie Andre Jackson Jr. kept it going with five points and four rebounds in nine minutes of play.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of good things about this team outside of Antetokounmpo and Lillard.
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