Giannis Antetokounmpo (36/18/5 in 30 minutes) was fantastic in the meeting with the champions Denver Nuggets, who beat them (112-95) with one of his best games this year.
The 2021 champions welcomed the 2023 champions in the early hours of Tuesday (13/2), but the battle everyone was hoping for never happened at the Fiserv Forum. The Bucks swept the Nuggets (112-95) and Giannis Antetokounmpo had a seminar-sized performance against Nikola Jokic as his team entered the contest fully engaged, but missed two of their five points and faltered.
Milwaukee went up 35-19 (23-6 and 12-13 at home), with the Greek Freak having a surprisingly frugal night against one of the NBA's toughest guys, Aaron Gordon. The Nuggets faced him with individual defense and he punished them like there was no obstacle in front of him, while Lillard-Portis had impressive breaks without needing anything else. All of which means Khris Middleton may be sidelined and return after the break for the 2024 All-Star Weekend.
Denver fell 36-17 (21-4 at home and 15-14 away), with Jokic filling his stats, but very much alone since Jamaal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope exited the contest with injuries. Gordon had a nightmare night, Michael Porter wasn't the player to step up as the second pole, the bench didn't help and the result was mediocre for Mike Malone's team, which shows something is missing this year.
44-42 rocket points, 20-11 surprise points, 38-37 conversion points, 19-9 opponent foul points, 12-16 second chance points (offensive rebounds), The Bucks shot 47% from three.
The Bucks next face the Miami Heat in Milwaukee on Wednesday (2/14 at 03:00 p.m.).
Giannis Antetokounmpo's account
He opened the contest with two rebounds, an assist on Lopez's three-pointer from eight yards out, a save on Jokic and a block on Caldwell-Pope. He made his first basket two minutes in, and right after he made 2/2 shots, he continued his attack on Gordon. His first three minutes were epic, but before six minutes he was charged with a second foul and went to the bench.
He came back early in the second period, dunked like a truck, had a steal, a shot, an offensive rebound and a dunk, all in less than two minutes. He scored 10 points before the half and Rivers pulled him back to the bench for a 45-28 lead. He shot 50-33 and five yards (8/8 two-pointers), finishing the first quarter with 26 points on 12 shots.
He entered the second half with a basket and a rebound, a tough Aaron Gordon couldn't contain him and the Greek Freak leveled him. By the end of the third he had scored 35 points on 14/17 2-pointers, he had gotten the job done and didn't need to sweat any more. A couple of clumsy decisions cost him the castle and it didn't really matter.
- 36 points
- 14/19 two-pointers
- 8/14 views
- 18 rebounds
- 5 assists
- 3 is stealing
- 2 volumes
- 2 mistakes
- 2 mistakes
- +18 to +/-
- At 30:24
Dodecalepta: 28-23, 60-44, 91-63, 112-95
Milwaukee Bucks (Doc Rivers): Crowder 2, Giannis Antetokounmpo 36, Lopez 9 (3/7 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks), Beasley 9 (3/6 3-pointers, 5 rebounds), Lillard 18 (4 /10 2-pointers, 2/5 3-pointers, 4/4 shots, 3 rebounds, 5 assists), Portis 13 (1 3-pointer, 8 rebounds, 3 assists), Beverley 5 (1 3-pointer, 4 assists ), Connaughton 5 (1 3-pointer, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), Green 9 (3/5 3-pointers), Beauchamp 3 (1), Jackson 3 (1), Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Washington, Livingston
Denver Nuggets (Mike Malone): Porter 11 (2/8 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Gordon 14 (2 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks), Jokic 29 (11/20 2-pointers, (2/5 3-pointers, 1/3 shots, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 turnovers), Caldwell-Pope 1, Murray 3 (1), Jackson 7 (1), Brown 7, Watson 5, Jordan 1, Holiday 5 (1), Gillespie 6 (2 ), Nagy 2, Stroder 2, Ki 2
Milwaukee Bucks Team Statistics: 26/50 2-pointers, 16/34 3-pointers, 12/18 shots, 54 rebounds, 30 assists, 8 steals, 6 blocks, 12 turnovers, 19 fouls
Denver Nuggets Team Statistics: 25/54 2-pointers, 11/40 3-pointers, 12/17 shots, 57 rebounds, 24 assists, 7 steals, 2 blocks, 13 turnovers, 14 fouls
