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Giannis Antetokounmpo’s November reign of terror has Milwaukee Bucks fans serenading him with “M-V-P” chants when he steps to the free-throw line and his coach praising his all-around dominance.
“This is the best stretch by far with me, because it's not just scoring, it's everything,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after Saturday’s 124-114 win over the Washington Wizards. “He's blocking shots, he's rebounding the ball, he's passing the ball, he's starting a break.”
Antetokounmpo did all those things in Saturday’s too-close-for-comfort win over the Wizards, losers of 14 straight games. He registered another triple-double, the 51st of his career and third in November. This one – 42 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists – marked the first time in his career he’s hit the 40-point threshold in a triple-double.
Bucks ride Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Wizards
The big night for Antetokounmpo lifted the Bucks over the .500 mark for the first time this season, at 10-9, after a woeful 2-8 start. During their current 8-1 stretch, Antetokounmpo has increasingly found a rhythm with fellow All-Star Damian Lillard, who’s playing perhaps his best sustained basketball since joining the Bucks in a blockbuster trade from the Portland Trail Blazers in 2023.
Lillard had 25 points to go along with 10 assists and five rebounds. It marked the third game that the duo both finished with 25 points and double-digit assists, the first time a pair of teammates has done so in NBA history.
“Him and Dame, the two-man game has been fantastic,” Rivers said. “He's just doing a lot of stuff for us, and he's doing it in the flow. It's coming right in the flow.”
Against the Washington, Milwaukee showed how dynamic the pair can be working together. They scored in transition, Dame dishing to Giannis on the break after a steal. Mostly, they scored in halfcourt sets, running the pick-and-roll and give-and-go.
Both stars involved their teammates, too. Among Antetokounmpo’s 11 assists, eight of them went for made 3-pointers: three each for A.J. Green and Taurean Prince, and two for Lillard. Antetokounmpo went back to basics offensively, scoring all his points in the paint or at the free-throw line. He attempted just five shots outside the paint and missed all of them. That’s a departure for him this year.
He’s fourth in the league in shots made from midrange, at 33, and he’s making 45% of them. He also didn’t attempt a 3-pointer on Saturday, leaving the long range bombing to his teammates. They feasted on the open looks provided by a defense collapsing around dribble drives by their two stars, hitting 45.7% from distance.
While the team used a soft part of the schedule in November to climb out of the hole they were in, it required heavy minutes from their stars. Antetokounmpo is averaging 35.2 minutes a game this season, with Lillard at 36.2.
Rivers indicated on Saturday that he’d like to keep them both in the 33-to-34-minute range, and said the pending return of forward Khris Middleton, the team’s third All-Star, from injury should help.
“When Khris comes back, clearly that helps us lower their minutes,” Rivers said. “That's the importance of Khris.”
The Bucks are back in action Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons.
