MILWAUKEE — As the final buzzer sounded on the Milwaukee Bucks‘ 127-120 overtime win over the Detroit Pistons, Giannis Antetokounmpo walked to midcourt and asked for the crowd inside Fiserv Forum to make some noise. The fans obliged with MVP chants after another spectacular effort from their hero.
Antetokounmpo poured in 59 points on 21 of 34 from the field and 16 of 17 from the free-throw line for the second-highest scoring total of his career (his career-high is 64 points) and the best by a player this season. He added 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and three blocks for good measure to give his team its second straight victory for the first time this season.
“I’m not well-versed enough in the English language or any other language to find new ways to describe Giannis’ brilliance,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said. “To be able to watch it and be a part of it for as long as I’ve been here — this is seven years now — to see the way he was tonight, still seeing new stuff. It’s so special. Gonna cherish it and let it inspire me, too.”
The Greek Freak started the night by scoring 22 points in the first quarter — the most he’s scored in an opening frame in his career — and was the only Bucks player to make a shot in the first 13 minutes and 47 seconds of the game. But as impressive as Antetokounmpo was early on, that wasn’t a winning formula, even with Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis all sidelined.
“It’s funny how a coach thinks,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We called a timeout and I’m like, ‘OK, Giannis has 22 of our 24, this ain’t good.'”
The Bucks fell behind by double digits early, and trailed by as many as 18 early in the third quarter. They were still struggling to find any life late in that frame when Isaiah Stewart decided to provide it for them. With just over three minutes to go in the third, he hauled Antetokounmpo down by his jersey. The referees went to the monitor and upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2, resulting in an ejection for the Pistons’ bad boy.
“I’ve been in that position many times in my life,” Antetokounmpo said. “I have two older brothers that pushed me on the floor, be tough on me, especially Thanasis. I’ve been hit so many times so it doesn’t phase me any more. All I could think about was get up and try to make two free throws.
“At the same time, that’s a dangerous play. That’s not a basketball play. And I think the referees did a great job making the right call.”
All of a sudden, the crowd was ignited and so were the Bucks, who stormed back to take the lead heading into the fourth. Down the stretch of regulation, it was a back-and-forth affair. Ironically, Antetokounmpo almost cost the Bucks the game with a controversial foul on Ron Holland with one second remaining.
The ball didn’t lie, however, and Holland missed both free throws to send the game to overtime. And Antetokounmpo was not going to waste the Bucks’ second chance. He scored or assisted on 14 of the Bucks’ 16 points in the extra frame, including a driving dunk to ice the game with 30.5 seconds left.
Between his own baskets and the ones he created with his assists, Antetokounmpo accounted for 76 of the Bucks’ 127 points (63.3%) on the night.
This was the 10th 50-point game of his career, which is tied for the most in Bucks history with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and his ninth outing with at least 50 points and 10 rebounds, which is third in NBA history behind only Elgin Baylor (16) and Wilt Chamberlain (118).
“At the end of the day, you are here to do a job, which is compete,” Antetokounmpo said. “You’re not going to win every single time, but at least all you can do is compete, and you hope that your teammates follow you. I don’t think it’s special, I’m just happy that my teammates were able to go out there and compete to get two wins, and now we can build off this.”
This has been a frustrating start to the season for the Bucks, who opened up 2-8 and have vultures circling in the event they consider blowing it up. That is unlikely to happen, especially if they keep picking up positive results. After Wednesday’s victory, they have won consecutive games for the first time all season and improved to 4-8.
That’s still not where they want to be, but in the weak Eastern Conference they’re just 1.5 games out of fourth place. And as long as Antetokounmpo remains willing, and able, to put them on his back, they’ll have a fighting chance.
