NBA: No Giannis, no problem as Milwaukee Bucks remain unbeaten

LOS ANGELES – The Milwaukee Bucks did not miss a beat with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined for the first time this season as centre Brook Lopez said it was exciting “to see what it’s like without him” and “get better in that way”.

Despite the two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player’s absence on Saturday, the Bucks pushed their record to 9-0 with a 108-94 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Antetokounmpo was listed as “questionable” with left knee soreness, a night after he posted his first triple-double of the season in a 115-102 road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lopez helped fill the void against the Thunder with 25 points as the Bucks, who were also without injured three-time All-Star Khris Middleton, improved on their best start to the season.

Lopez said: “It’s kind of exciting. Giannis gets a chance to rest, to refill his cup and we get a chance to get better and see what it’s like without him on the court and get better in that way.”

Lopez led the Bucks on 10-of-16 shooting, including four of Milwaukee’s 17 three-pointers.

Said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer: ‘’He’s had so many good games for us, but to shoot the three-ball so well out of the gate, then really be such a force in the paint, he really delivered in a lot of different ways. He was phenomenal.’‘

Like Lopez, Bobby Portis also stepped up and had 10 of his rebounds in the second quarter – four of them on the offensive end – when Milwaukee outscored the Thunder 33-19.

Portis had not had more than 16 rebounds in his 461-game career. The 12 points, 21 rebounds double-double was his fifth of the season as the Bucks out-rebounded Oklahoma City 55-38. Jrue Holiday also finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 assists.

After trailing by eight early on, Grayson Allen, who finished with a season-high 19 points, fuelled a quick 10-0 run late in the first quarter to stabilise Milwaukee. He scored eight consecutive points – including two threes – then grabbed a rebound that eventually led to another bucket.

By half-time, Milwaukee led 67-53.

When the Thunder threatened to get back into the game, cutting the deficit to 10 in the fourth quarter, Lopez scored seven quick points – all three of the buckets assisted by Holiday – to put the game out of reach. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 18 points on seven-of-16 shooting.

Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each hit six three-pointers in Boston Celtics’ record-setting 133-118 road win over the New York Knicks.

Every Celtics player who took to the court had at least one three, as they went 27-for-51 on treys. The 27 threes were two more than the previous team record, set on Feb 15, and two shy of the Bucks’ NBA record from Dec 29, 2020.

Marcus Smart, who scored three of his five treys, called his team’s offence  “a thing of beauty”.
REUTERS, AFP