Giannis Antetokounmpo entered the Milwaukee Bucks' Wednesday night clash against the Atlanta Hawks averaging 31.7 points per night, good for third in the league behind only Luka Doncic and Joel Embiid. Thus, no one would have expected, barring an unforeseen injury, that Antetokounmpo would only score seven points on the night. Something must have gone wrong for Giannis to score only that many points.
Thankfully, the Bucks still pulled out a 114-105 victory over the Hawks even with Giannis Antetokounmpo's incredibly bizarre night. Antetokounmpo tallied his 25th double-double of the season even without scoring in double figures – the Draymond Green special. The Greek Freak tallied 18 boards and 10 assists, still proving himself to be a contributor even with his shot as broken as it was on the night.
He shot a mere 3-10 from the field and 1-4 from the foul line, which doesn't appear to be fun for someone who's shooting 53 percent from the field and 66 percent from the foul line. However, all that matters to Giannis is getting the victory, and he expressed as much on his official Twitter account following the game.
“Keep pushing, having fun and playing together 💪🏾💪🏾,” Antetokounmpo wrote.
There have only been two other players who have notched a rebound-assist double-double other than Giannis Antetokounmpo this season. One is Draymond Green, who is perhaps the quintessential impact player without having to score the basketball, and the other is Alex Caruso, yet another defensive specialist whose contributions oftentimes go unnoticed on the box score.
Antetokounmpo last scored less than seven points back in April 2021, when he played in just 46 seconds against the Houston Rockets due to an ankle sprain. Before that instance, Giannis scored less than seven when he didn't score a single point back in January 2017, after he played in just nine minutes due to an illness. One must go all the way back to the 2015-16 regular season to point out a game where The Greek Freak scored less than seven points without having to play less than his usual minutes due to an injury.
Nonetheless, as Antetokounmpo pointed out, as long as the Bucks keep pushing, having fun, and playing together, he'll be alright – scoring totals notwithstanding.
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