By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
At the top of a three-game road trip, the Milwaukee Bucks fell to the New Orleans Pelicans in Smoothie King Center.
Giannis Antetokounmpo posted a 35-point, 14-rebound double-double to go with four assists in a losing effort on Thursday night. Failing to contain Zion Williamson down the stretch, his side was forced down to 46-27. A distance of 1.5 games from the New York Knicks and two games from the Cleveland Cavaliers makes keeping the second seed of the Eastern Conference complicated, especially considering recent form.
“You got to play with pace,” the Greek Freak shared advice to teammates, “You are going to make mistakes. Everybody’s human. Nobody’s perfect. But we have to play with purpose. When we come down, when we get the rebound, instead of just trying to figure out what we are going to run, we should just boom, move the ball ahead, let somebody attack, make something happen, get in the paint. If you don’t have anything, throw the ball back. Now we play set offense. I feel like we don’t do that enough.”
With nine games left in the 2023-24 NBA Regular Season, the team coached by Doc Rivers visits the Atlanta Hawks on the next installment of NBA Saturdays. Next Tuesday, they face the Washington Wizards in Capital One Arena. From there to five straight games in Fiserv Forum. “We got to pick up our pace. And we will do it,” Antetokounmpo previewed upcoming challenges and path to the Playoffs.