Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the Milwaukee Bucks against the Knicks after a four-game absence, but his 30 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists weren’t enough to keep their NBA Cup hopes alive. Ryan Rollins, the team’s second-leading scorer, had a quiet night as the Knicks held him 13 points in 41 minutes. It was AJ Green with six threes and Kyle Kuzma with 20 bench points that picked up the slack around Giannis.
In the lineup or not, however, Antetokounmpo doesn’t want his teammates focused on individual contributions. Instead, it needs to be all about winning, box scores be damned.
Giannis preaches “winning mentality” in wake of another painful loss
“Nobody should have a personal agenda,” Giannis said after the game, which eliminated the Bucks from Cup contention after they won the whole thing last season. “Nobody should worry about what they want from themselves. Worry only about winning mentality, winning mindset. The more we can win the games, the more everything takes care of itself.”
Nov 28, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) looks up court during the second half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Unfortunately, the Bucks haven’t done much winning lately without or without Giannis on the floor. After an 8-5 start, it’s been a rough road for Milwaukee. With Antetokounmpo sidelined, the offense has leaned more heavily than ever on Rollins but it hasn’t been enough.
While his advice rings true in principle, the reality is that the Bucks needed multiple individuals to up their tangible production in order to compensate for his loss. For the most part, they didn’t get it in any major way aside from Rollins.
Nonetheless, Giannis believes, playing under that kind of pressure isn’t conducive to producing anything but L’s.
“Can I make an excuse that we’ve played a lot of games and guys are tired and it’s a huge load on people? Yeah. Can I also make an excuse that’s human nature when [Kevin Porter Jr.] goes down and myself goes down, it’s human nature to think that you got to carry a load. … Maybe it’s a scoring load, maybe you got to make plays, maybe you think it is your opportunity to get more shots. … But that’s not how you win games. That’s not how you build culture.”
Getting Porter back will without a doubt help fill Milwaukee’s dire need for shot creation. Once he gets his feet back beneath them, the offense will have three genuine engines in him, Giannis, and Rollins. And clearly they could use some extra fuel.
Nov 24, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA;Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) defends against Milwaukee Bucks guard Ryan Rollins (13) in the first half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
Be that as it may, coach Giannis exhorted his teammates to keep their heads down and nose to the grindstone – not peeking up at the score board or their point totals.
“At the end of the day, you got to come in, do your job, do what you’re paid to do, defend … do the little things. And sometimes, when you worry about doing the little things, all the other things add up. If you’re so concerned about scoring the ball and get yourself going offensively and that doesn’t work for you, now you feel like you cannot do nothing.”
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