The Greek Freak is Back
Giannis Antetokounmpo played his first game for the Milwaukee Bucks since being involved in the biggest trade speculation before the February deadline.
Giannis is back.
He has played 2 games so far, and if those games are any indication, Giannis and the Bucks are in for a rough stretch.
Against the Boston Celtics, he logged 25 minutes–he scored 19 points on 7 of 18 shooting, had 11 rebounds and 3 turnovers. He also netted a -16 plus-minus, but that speaks more to his teammates. It is also important to note that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum did not play. It was Payton Pritchard who was cooking the Bucks perimeter defense.
In the next game against the Atlanta Hawks, Giannis had 24 points on 10 out of 15 shooting–a lot better and a lot more efficient considering that he logged a similar 26 minutes. He had 4 assists, and netted a plus-minus rating of -24 to a considerably worse team than the Celtics.
According to press releases, the Bucks are not looking to tank despite losing their last 4 games, and are not looking to “rest” their superstar like other tanking teams do. There is still time and they still have a chance to make the playoffs, but the rest of the team have to step up. Ousmane Dieng and Ryan Rollins have been helping out Giannis in scoring. Kyle Kuzma can sometimes get 15 off the bench on a good day, and he has to be more consistent.
Moving forward, if their rotation is similar to how it went the past two games, it would seem like Giannis is being kept under a minutes-restriction policy, which is understandable considering his recent injury. He’d probably produce less than how much he did during the Hawks game.
“This is one of the toughest seasons I’ve had in my NBA career,” Antetokounmpo remarked after the Celtics game. “I’ve had injuries, we are not playing well as a team. Something feels off this season.”
The Bucks have made the playoffs for the past 10 seasons. If Giannis plays less than 60 games this season, which looks likely, that streak might come to an end. It also means that Giannis and the Bucks will part ways after the season.
For now, Giannis is still a stat-monster–he will produce even if he only plays limited minutes per game. He is still passionate, he is still Milwaukee’s strongest player, and he is still the Freak.
DAILY FANTASY PICKS:
Captain: Giannis Antetokoounmpo
Vice Captain:Bobby Portis
Key picks: Cam Thomas, Ousmane Dieng, Ryan Rollins, Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma
You may use the suggested picks to play Daily Fantasy now! Here’s how to get you started.
Here are the matches this week!
