MILWAUKEE _ Down the road, Saturday night may be remembered as the night Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo put up a career-high 44 points, though there's no reason to believe he won't eclipse that number at some point in the future.
But it was Antetokounmpo's defense that won the night in a 113-110 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
With the Bucks trailing by one with 30.3 seconds left, Antetokounmpo dogged Blazers guard C.J. McCollum, poking away a steal. He then corralled the ball and sprinted to the other end, throwing down a dunk to put Milwaukee ahead with 11.4 seconds left.
But he wasn't done.
Portland executed a pick-and-roll that left Jusuf Nurkic a seemingly solid look at the basket from close. That's when Antetokounmpo slid over and rejected Nurkic. Khris Middleton secured the rebound and was fouled, knocking down a pair of free throws to bring him to 18 points on the night.
With the Blazers out of timeouts, Brogdon stole their inbound pass heaved to halfcourt and that was it. The M-V-P chants that have become commonplace at the Bradley Center in just two games echoed until well after the game ended as Antetokounmpo earned the celebratory on-court interview.
Antetokounmpo's incredibly efficient outing _ he made 17 of 23 shots, had eight rebounds and dished out four assists _ carried the Bucks throughout the night. He catalyzed big runs throughout the game, beginning in the second quarter.
With the Bucks trailing by nine early in the second, Antetokounmpo turned things around nearly by himself. He came off the bench to score seven straight points to kick off what would become a 27-9 run over seven minutes. That spurt helped Milwaukee take a 60-55 lead into the second half.
Late in the third quarter, he did the same thing after a stretch on the bench. With the Bucks down by one with about 2{ minutes left, he dished an assist to John Henson then scored six straight points _ including his first 3-pointer of the season _ to ignite an 8-0 run.
He then finished out strong with 17 fourth-quarter points, including the winning dunk, to carry the Bucks to the win.
Along with Middleton's scoring output, Antetokounmpo got plenty of help from Tony Snell, who scored 17 points and didn't miss until the fourth quarter. Portland was led by Damiam Lillard and C.J. McCollum, who had 26 points each.
