By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
He barely needed 24 minutes to score 24 points, grab 17 rebounds and dish four helpers. Giannis Antetokounmpo was only 5/12 from the charity stripe and 1/5 beyond the arc, but it didn’t really matter for the Milwaukee Bucks in their blowout victory against the Detroit Pistons. His team now leads the best-of-seven series, 1-0.
“I think we did a great job just setting the tone, playing hard and playing together” Antetokounmpo, 24, said after the NBA Playoffs contest. The Fiserv Forum crowd enjoyed watching him dunk from the free-throw line, but admitted he didn’t realize the magnitude of his effort: “I wasn’t aware from where I dunked from. I’m going to see the clip.”
Hard fouls from the opponents came often on Sunday and were highlighted by Andre Drummond who shoved him and was ejected. “As a team we talked about it, to try to keep our composure whenever the opposing team tries to foul us hard or tries to hit us or play dirty, Obviously, I’m not going to look to the referees for protection. I’ve just got to play smart and try to avoid the situations” the Greek Freak pointed out.