Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the best players in the NBA and will very likely be named the league’s MVP when this season is over.
But he should be embarrassed by his Game 1 performance against the Celtics on Sunday because woof was it a bad one.
And it’s the main reason why the Bucks lost 112-90 in a stunner that never felt close in the second half.
What made this performance by Giannis so surprising is that he looked so darn dominant in the Bucks’ sweep of the Detroit Pistons in the first round. Heck, it was just a continuation of what he did all year long.
But he quickly learned that the Celtics aren’t the Pistons, as Brad Stevens drew up a great defensive plan to limit the “Greak Freak” and then Al Horford went out there executed it to perfect, as “Playoff Al” has been known to do.
Nothing sums up the day more than this, when Horford blocked Giannis twice!
Giannis finished with 22 points, five below his season average, and with nine of those coming from 3-point land. He wasn’t his normal force in the paint because the Celtics didn’t allow him to be.
They did a great job of not giving him open looks to get down the lane and when he did got to the hoop, they gave him their full attention:
Some fans are crying about fouls not getting called but come on, this is the playoffs and there is going to be a little more contact this time of year.
And Giannis should be able to power through that. He should able to power through Al Horford.
He also wasn’t his normal dominant self on the defensive end, either. This kind of sleepy stuff can’t happen in the playoffs:
Giannis and the Bucks got a huge wakeup call at home on Sunday. But again, these Celtics aren’t the Pistons. They’re a star-studded team with a good deal of playoff experience and a toughness that makes their game plan all the better.
It’s the playoffs, so the Bucks will make adjustments for Game 2. Giannis has been an unstoppable force of nature all season long, so there’s no reason to doubt he won’t bounce back.
But there’s also no reason to doubt that the Celtics won’t push back, too.
These Bucks, who had the NBA’s best record in the regular season, and their leader just got punched in the mouth.
Now let’s see if they, and Giannis, can come up with a plan to make sure something as ugly as Sunday’s performance doesn’t happen again.
Or they’ll head to Boston down 0-2.
Which would be embarrassing.
