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Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has taken over the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
After having a subpar Game 1, the man known as the Greek Freak scored a combined 100 points over the next three games. The Boston Celtics, after keeping him quiet for one game, have looked perplexed defensively ever since.
Antetokounmpo might have given them a hint on how to do better during his postgame interview when asked how he would guard himself.
Giannis was asked how he would guard himself: “Oh man, I don’t know. I’d be as physical as I can … and at the end of the day, you have to let me shoot jump shots.”
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) May 7, 2019
This isn't exactly news to the league. It's well known that Giannis struggles from beyond the painted area, and teams have done all they can to exploit this weakness.
Some teams have his defender play several feet off of the Bucks star, while others have the defender pick him up right at half court to cut off any driving lanes. The results have mostly been the same: Antetokounmpo finishes strong in the paint after overpowering the poor defender.
As a side note, the Greek Freak has actually shot the ball decently from downtown this playoffs. He is hitting 33 percent of his three-pointers — about eight percent better than his regular season numbers. However, he is only shooting 14 percent on shots from 10 to 16 feet away.
Obviously, these numbers come in a very limited sample size. There is not enough data here to build a defensive strategy quite yet. But the Celtics know that their best chance of forcing a Game 6 and keeping their playoff hopes alive is limiting the Bucks superstar in the painted area. No team is going to shut Antetokounmpo down, but they will aim to repeat their Game 1 defensive performance.
