Giannis Antetokounmpo too dominant for Utah Jazz to handle, says Mike Conley
Wednesday 27 November 2019 07:57, UK
Giannis Antetokounmpo had one of the most dominant games of his career and the Milwaukee Bucks needed every bit of it to beat the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
Antetokounmpo scored a season-high 50 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for his 17th consecutive double-double to help the Milwaukee Bucks rally in the second half for their eighth consecutive victory, a 122-118 win over the Utah Jazz.
"We threw everything at him. We threw everybody at him. We threw double-teams and he made plays out of the post, said Jazz guard Mike Conley. "He got to the free throw line. When he started making the long-range shot, that really makes it tough. I was proud of the way we defended. We tried rebounding and tried to box him out, and he was too tall, too long."
"We pride ourselves on being a team that is going to play late [in the postseason]," Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said. "But we've got to grind and get to that point. We could have got them tonight, but Giannis got 50. He's the MVP for a reason."
Milwaukee led 120-113 with 1:24 left, but Bojan Bogdanovic countered with a three-pointer and Mitchell followed with a lay-up to make 120-118 with 43 seconds left. The Bucks missed on their next possession, but Brook Lopez blocked Mitchell's driving lay-up attempt with 4.4 seconds remaining.
Antetokounmpo's streak of double-doubles is the longest to begin a season since Bill Walton opened with 34 straight in 1976-77. Antetokounmpo, who had 32 points in the second half, played for 38 minutes and did not commit a turnover.
"I'm impressed, I'm not going to lie to you," said Antetokounmpo, the reigning MVP. "Great game and all that. My second 50-point game of my career. Doing it with zero turnovers, that's great. I see that they made 21 threes, and as a team we were still able to be in the game and still win the game. At the end of the day, all that matters is a win."
Milwaukee trailed 57-48 at the half, going just 3-of-17 from three-point range, but pulled even with a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter. Antetokounmpo's triple from the top of the key tied it at 74 with 5:28 left in the period.
"The third quarter stood out, where we played well on both ends," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "[We] had enough stops. More importantly, against a good team, we were able to make some shots. I was really pleased with the third quarter."
Click the video at the top of the page to watch highlights of Giannis' dominant performance in the Bucks' win over the Jazz.
