With just over 10 seconds to go until the fourth period ended on Sunday, Giannis Antetokounmpo was jumping high on the court, with a huge smile etched on his face. He had just launched a thunderous hit to put the Milwaukee Bucks in three points over the Los Angeles Clippers, and send the limited fans inside the Fiserv Forum into euphoria.
After a failure by Kawhi Leonard and two free throws by Khris Middleton, the Bucks secured a 105 to 100 win to extend their winning streak to five consecutive games. The season has not yet gone as planned for the Bucks, but things are starting to get better for aspiring title holders. Jrue Holiday is back on the team after an absence of 10 games and, after Sunday’s victory, they are just one game away from the Eastern Conference.
“We need to keep working,” said Giannis after the victory. “We have a long way to go. We have to keep playing basketball, make the right decisions, create good habits and hope that everything will work out in the end.”
But, while Giannis was not ready to claim that the team turned around, his performance was yet another reminder that even though the Bucks were not dominant in the regular season, they are capable of defeating anyone in the league when he plays his best basketball.
His final line looks like a video game: 36 points out of 15 out of 27 shots, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. But the way he completely took over the fourth half and guided the Bucks home was the most impressive aspect of Giannis’ afternoon. There was an incredible amount of talent in the game, but he made it clear that he was the best player on the pitch.
Giannis played the entire fourth period and scored 17 of Bucks’ 22 final points. In fact, it almost equaled the total Clippers in the quarter (19 points) alone. But he was not only doing this in the attack. He also had a number of important defensive moves, including one of the best blocks of the season at Ivica Zubac.
In his last 10 games, Giannis has averaged 33.5 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists, shooting 55.2 percent of the field. He even apparently solved his free throw problems and is throwing 75 percent of the streak during this stretch. The Bucks’ slow start to the season overshadowed what he was doing individually, but on Sunday he made sure it couldn’t be ignored.