Drooling Over Potential: Giannis Antetokounmpo Takes Over In Crunch Time

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday night, the Memphis Grizzlies’ six game win streak to open the season came to an end with the Milwaukee Bucks beating them by a final score of 93-92. Brandon Knight was the one who put the final nail in the coffin, but it was Giannis Antetokounmpo who kept the Bucks alive in the fourth quarter.

Antetokounmpo finished with a career-high of 18 points, 12 of which came in the final quarter of the game. He shot 6-for-11 from the field in total and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.

The Bucks went small for much of the fourth quarter, opening with a Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo, Jared Dudley, Antetokounmpo and John Henson lineup. Antetokounmpo got off to a quick start, first isolating himself on the low block against Jon Leuer and soon after taking Tayshaun Prince one-on-one just inside the perimeter. On both drives, he drew fouls and went to the free throw line.

Jason Kidd then replaced Henson with Larry Sanders with 6:58 to go in the quarter, leaving Antetokounmpo to man the power forward spot. That created an advantage on the offensive end for Antetokounmpo. On all four of his made baskets, he had either Zach Randolph or Marc Gasol guarding him. Each time, he caught the ball at the top of the perimeter and took them off the dribble with ease, using his speed to get around them and length to finish at the basket.

At one point in the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo looked to drive by Randolph but was cut off quickly by Mike Conley. Instead of forcing the play, he made a simple pass to Bayless on the wing, who knocked down a three to give the Bucks a one point lead with 3:24 to go in the frame. While the Grizzlies responded with Randolph hitting a baseline jump shot, Antetokounmpo put the Bucks back in the driver’s seat with an and-one layup over Randolph.

After the game, Antetokounmpo said that putting him in one-on-one situations against the Grizzlies’ bigs was by design. He also added that he couldn’t have been happier that Kidd had the trust to give him the ball in that situation.

"“Coach was telling guys the other guys to give me the ball, because he saw that I had a mismatch and he saw that I make some shots, so he wanted me to have the ball.”  Giannis vs. Z-Bo – A matchup for the ages | Bucksketball"

Antetokounmpo is still very much in the infant phase of his development, but on Saturday night he showed what could be by turning some of his potential into results. The Grizzlies had a decision to make with Antetokounmpo playing the four, to which they responded by rolling out their usual lineup. While they attacked him on the defensive end by feeding Randolph the ball — he scored six points and had six rebounds in the fourth quarter — they couldn’t stop Antetokounmpo from getting to the basket.

In the end, that was the difference between the Grizzlies extending their win streak to seven games and going back home to Memphis with a loss — one long limbed Greek Freak who is still a baby in the NBA world.