When Giannis Antetokounmpo makes a 3-pointer, it's great. It's like finding a dollar bill on the ground. However, in that same breath, it's rare. It's incredibly rare for the Milwaukee Bucks forward.
That's what made it so frustrating when he pulled up from deep with 1:35 left in the game against the Boston Celtics, with his team trailing by just one. He missed it. Jrue Holiday corralled the rebound and tossed it ahead to Al Horford. As he tends to do, Horford fired a triple and buried it, putting the Celtics up by four. It was a gut-wrenching swing for the Milwaukee Bucks, who had a chance to take this one.
Instead, Boston secured a 111-105 victory and moved to 3-0 against Milwaukee on the season.
On the season, Giannis is shooting the second-fewest 3-point attempts per game of his career, with only his rookie season having less. It's an aspect of his game that he's backed off of, and rightfully so. It's never been his bread and butter, and with the Greek Freak surprisingly dominating the mid-range game this season, he hasn't had much reason to shoot threes.
Again, that's what makes this late-game shot so perplexing.
Down by one with the game hanging in the balance, a Giannis three isn't the best look. He is obviously comfortable in that shot, and he's even made clutch triples before, notably against the Brooklyn Nets in an unforgettable matchup in March of 2022, but that's still not the high-percentage shot a team that was ice-cold from the field needed to break out of what was a gruesome fourth-quarter slump.
This choice felt particularly odd because Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't even attempt a 3-pointer in his last three games.
Antetokounmpo looked off throughout this contest. While he put up big numbers with 30 points and 11 boards, it felt like he left a bit on the table. Boston's defense certainly made him uncomfortable at times, and perhaps that's one of the reasons he settled for this ill-advised 3-point look and missed a handful of looks inside that he typically might score with ease.
To be clear, this loss doesn't fall on just Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis combining to shoot 6-of-21 while getting blown by on the perimeter did not help. In his first game of the season, Khris Middleton had a tough shooting night, knocking down a mere two of his 10 shots. As a whole, the Milwaukee Bucks looked lost on defense countless times.
After a massive, season-altering win streak, the Milwaukee Bucks have now lost two straight games and feel like a team that has taken a couple of steps back. It's now time for this team to regroup.
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