MILWAUKEE — While Brook Lopez has not been around since the beginning as Khris Middleton has, the veteran center still has seen a lot of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s career.
And even though that means Lopez has watched Antetokounmpo defy the odds to return from a brutal knee injury and score 50 points to close out the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals, unbelievable playoff performances, a career-high 64-point performance last season against the Indiana Pacers, seven other 50-point games, 37 more 40-point games, 36 triple-doubles and countless other special moments, there are still nights where Antetokounmpo does something that Lopez hasn’t seen before.
That was again the case on Wednesday night as Antetokounmpo tallied 59 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two assists in the Bucks’ 127-120 overtime win against the Detroit Pistons.
Without three of the team’s other top scoring options — Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis — and having one point guard (Delon Wright) available, Antetokounmpo singlehandedly kept the Bucks in the game to start the night. He then dominated to close the game and lead the Bucks to a win with his second-highest single-game scoring performance in his career.
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“I’m not well versed enough in the English language, or unfortunately any other language, to find new ways to describe Giannis’ brilliance,” Lopez said. “Just to be able to watch it and be a part of it for as long as I’ve been here, these seven years now, to see the way he was tonight, I’m still seeing new stuff. And it’s just, it’s so special.
“So I’m just going to cherish it, night in and night out, but just let it inspire me too because his drive — you mentioned all the scoring he does — but he doesn’t care about that. Obviously, he can take us on his back and win games for us, but it’s just the way he goes about it. He’s not about the stats. He’s just about winning and that’s something the whole team gets behind.”
Against the Pistons, Antetokounmpo wasted little time taking over, scoring 22 of the Bucks’ 24 points in the first quarter.
Giannis has 22 of Milwaukee’s 24 points in the first quarter 🤯#FearTheDeer | #NBA pic.twitter.com/gLz08HiKh1
— FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin (@FanDuelSN_WI) November 14, 2024
With the rest of the roster struggling to play through the Pistons’ aggressive and physical defense, Antetokounmpo went to work, attacking the basket and attempting to keep the Bucks within striking distance. In the first quarter, Antetokounmpo made 7 of 10 shots and all eight of his free throws, while the rest of the roster went a combined 0 of 12 from the field and didn’t end up making their first basket until nearly two minutes into the second quarter.
Antetokounmpo’s 22 points were a first-quarter career-high for him. While his hot early start was impressive, Bucks coach Doc Rivers found himself a bit more concerned than impressed in the moment.
“It’s funny how a coach thinks, though,” Rivers said. “We called a timeout and I’m thinking, ‘OK, Giannis has 22 of our 24. This ain’t good.’ I’m thinking the exact opposite.
“We gotta figure out how to get someone else involved in this game. … And then after the game, you realize how special that is. But during the game, you’re in a panic because you’re thinking that can’t stay. And then other guys joined in and that was great for us.”
While other players did get going a little bit, the Bucks struggled in the second quarter and trailed 60-47 at the half. Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 28, but it appeared as though the Bucks were not going to have enough scoring or offensive creation. It became even more apparent as the Bucks put together a lackluster third-quarter start, seeing the Pistons build a 70-52 lead with 9 minutes, 24 seconds left in the frame.
But Antetokounmpo wasn’t going to allow the Bucks to go down without a fight. He started to chip away at the lead with a few baskets, but then he helped Gary Trent Jr. get going. Between a sluggish start to the season as a shooter and suffering from back spasms, Trent hadn’t made a 3 since Nov. 2. But as the Bucks switched to a zone defense to mess with the Pistons’ rhythm, Trent found his own and tallied eight third-quarter points, including two triples that helped cut the Bucks’ deficit to eight with 4:24 remaining in the quarter.
With the Bucks rolling, Pistons center Isaiah Stewart committed a flagrant foul on Antetokounmpo a little more than a minute later. As Antetokounmpo pivoted past him on the baseline and jumped to throw down a dunk, Stewart grabbed Antetokounmpo’s jersey with two hands and pulled the two-time MVP to the floor. Upon review, the foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 2 and Stewart was ejected.
Isaiah Stewart was ejected after this foul on Giannis #FearTheDeer | #Bucks pic.twitter.com/wue7mHstO0
— FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin (@FanDuelSN_WI) November 14, 2024
“I’ve been in that position many times in my life,” Antetokounmpo said. “I have two other brothers who pushed me on the floor, be tough on me, especially Thanasis. I’ve been hit so many times, so it doesn’t really faze me anymore. All I could think about was just get up and try to make two free throws. At the same time, it’s a dangerous play. That’s not a basketball play. And I think the ref did a great job making the right call.”
The foul ended up being a galvanizing moment for the Bucks. It took one of the Pistons’ best and most physical defenders off the floor, which made things easier for Antetokounmpo. It also energized him, his teammates and the Fiserv Forum crowd. From that point forward, it felt as though Antetokounmpo was going to will the Bucks to victory. Twenty-five of Antetokounmpo’s 59 points came after Stewart’s ejection.
But Antetokounmpo found out down the stretch, he was not alone.
As Lopez stated, Antetokounmpo’s teammates love playing with him and not because he scores a lot of points or creates scoring opportunities for his teammates. It’s because he plays through hard fouls, he gets back up when it seems like he could be hurting and he plays through exhaustion. His all-out effort and non-stop motor are what make him special and it’s what inspires his teammates.
It showed when Lopez sprinted back in transition to contest a shot by Cade Cunningham after one of only three turnovers from Antetokounmpo on Wednesday night.
DON’T TEST BROOK LOPEZ AT THE RIM. pic.twitter.com/GQOrVaUC2k
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 14, 2024
It showed when Andre Jackson Jr. fought through screens in the fourth quarter to make Cunningham work as hard as possible for his points.
“If the best player is the hardest working player, then something’s wrong,” Jackson said after the win. “I feel like as younger guys and as guys who are supporting cast, if we see Giannis and Brook being the hardest-playing guys out there, like, that doesn’t sit the best with me.
“So I just went out there and I try to be the hardest-playing guy and just try to make effort and energy plays.”
It’s what won the Bucks the game in overtime.
In the final few minutes of regulation. Cunningham and Marcus Sasser knocked down big shots for the Pistons, while Antetokounmpo and Lopez got to the line and Taurean Prince scored five straight points for the game to be tied with 25.4 seconds left. The Bucks executed well on their final possession and got Prince an open corner 3, but he missed, which gave the Pistons a chance to win the game in regulation with 1.2 seconds remaining.
One night after tying the Miami Heat late on an alley-oop sidelines-out-of-bounds play, Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff drew up another lob toward the rim. Rather than going to Jalen Duren as they did the night before, this one was lofted to Ron Holland.
Despite an acrobatic in-air catch and adjustment from Holland, Antetokounmpo defended it well. But a review determined that Antetokounmpo had fouled Holland with one second left. With a chance to give his team a lead, the Pistons rookie forward went to the line and missed both free throws, giving the Bucks a chance to win in OT.
Antetokounmpo did not plan on squandering that opportunity.
“I don’t want to say anything, I don’t want to get fined,” Antetokounmpo said of the final play in regulation. “But at the end of the day, like when a player goes up to the free throw and misses both, you have a chance and you realize at that point that you gotta take the game. Like, you’re not going to have another opportunity.
“And I feel like coming out of the end of regulation and going to the overtime, we came out aggressive.”
With new life, Antetokounmpo entered the overtime period on a mission.
He opened the extra period by stepping into a midrange jumper, giving him 50 points on the night.
Then, he went down to the other end and helped Lopez by swatting an alley-oop attempt to Duren. Antetokounmpo corralled the loose ball, pushed in transition and then pitched a pass back to Lopez for a trailer 3. After Sasser missed 3 that could have kept the Pistons within one possession, Antetokounmpo took his time walking down the floor and then calmly stepped into a 3 from the left wing.
The eight-point cushion created by Antetokounmpo would be all the Bucks needed to grab their fourth win of the season. Another Antetokounmpo teammate noted it could carry more weight than that.
“When you look back on this one, it will be, ‘Hey, this was an important time for us as a team,’ ” Pat Connaughton said after the game. “Yeah, it’s a regular-season game. Yeah, it’s a Wednesday night. Yeah, it’s off a back-to-back. Yeah, it’s a much better, much improved Detroit Pistons team from years past.
“But no Dame, no Bobby, we weren’t shooting great to start. It was needed.”
It was both a callback to so many of Antetokounmpo’s great games and a reminder to the rest of the league of what he is capable of on any given night.
“Man, I think he’s the best in the league,” Jackson said. “And he’s our leader, both on the court and off the court. When you have a strong performance from a guy like that on your team, it just inspires the rest of the group to just go out there and give it their all.”
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(Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo: John Fisher / Getty Images)
