The Milwaukee Bucks blew out the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, and that's largely because of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. shutting down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the game.
Sure enough, the Bucks prepared hard to counter the threat that SGA brings. They know he's the focal point of the Thunder offense, and based on Antetokounmpo's statement following their win, they made it a priority to slow him down offensively and force him to pass the ball instead.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored only 12 points in the contest as the Bucks destroyed the Thunder, 118-93. He shot 5-of-12 from the field and made just two assists in 30 minutes of action.
“I think we just showed a lot of help. We know he's the head of the snake. … You see guys that average 30, 35. But he's also a willing passer. So that kind of helps you sometimes because he's gonna try to make the right play, he's not gonna force it,” Antetokounmpo said on Milwaukee slowing down and limiting Gilgeous-Alexander's scoring, via Joel Lorenzi of Oklahoman Sports.
The Bucks definitely did a great job defensively. The fact that SGA was also only limited to two dimes speaks volumes of the overall defense they had in the game. Usually a player of Gilgeous-Alexander's caliber attracts too much defense that leaves his teammates open. On Sunday, however, Milwaukee made sure the rest of the Thunder don't get going offensively as well.
For what it's worth, however, Gilgeous-Alexander is far from bothered by the results of the game and his performance. He noted that there are a lot of “lessons learned” for them, especially as they wanted to see in the game how they stack up against the best of the best in the NBA.
A learning experience pic.twitter.com/XXeqyymoae
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 25, 2024
Giannis Antetokounmpo makes MVP case
Of course defending alone wouldn't have fueled the Bucks to a big win over the Thunder. Giannis Antetokounmpo had another MVP-worthy performance against a fellow contender, as he led the way for Milwaukee with a monster double-double.
Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points and 19 rebounds on top of four assists and one block to propel the Cream City franchise to victory. The Greek Freak shot 13-of-18 from the field as Oklahoma City just couldn't find a way to contain him.
With that performance, Giannis has also now outplayed the Top 3 MVP candidates, further solidifying his case as a legitimate contender for the award. Sunday's game is his first meeting with the Thunder and SGA, while Antetokounmpo has already played Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks twice, winning both times and scoring at least 40 points in both instances.
Meanwhile, against current MVP favorite, Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, Antetokounmpo led his team in scoring in the two battles they had with 29 and 36 points. Denver and Milwaukee split the two games, with the Greek international winning the most recent one last February.
Antetokounmpo has powered the Bucks to the second-best record in the East, and he has certainly shown enough to warrant an MVP consideration once again. It remains to be seen if he'll be a finalist for the honor and actually win it, though there's no denying that he deserves more respect in the conversations than what he's currently getting.
Milwaukee has 11 games left on the season. If Antetokounmpo and the rest of the team can continue their incredible run, his MVP doubters might be forced to turn their attention on him.
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