Giannis Antetokounmpo expanding his range at the age of 30 in his 12th year wasn’t on a lot of people’s bingo cards. However, his mid-range falling at an incredible clip hasn’t translated to his shots from beyond the arc following suit. This was most evident during his late-game 3-point attempt that clanked off the back iron.
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Following the game, Giannis addressed this shot of his. He was unapologetic for attempting a 3 in the clutch and went as far as to say that he would take this shot once more if given the opportunity.
Giannis: *clank*
Horford: *swish* pic.twitter.com/9frkbV2dyG
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) December 7, 2024
“Coming down, seeing Al Horford backing up, I felt like I could make it, shot it. It went well, in my opinion. S**t, if I had the chance, I’d shoot it again. I’d shoot it again. I’ve made it multiple times, so I’d shoot it again.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo, on his late 3-pt attempt:
“Coming down, seeing Al Horford backing up, I felt like I could make it, shot it. It went well, in my opinion. S**t, if I had the chance, I’d shoot it again. I’d shoot it again. I’ve made it multiple times, so I’d shoot it again.” https://t.co/xXHinymp90
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) December 7, 2024
Giannis has never truly been able to catch a stride from 3 over the course of a full season. It’s not mattered all too much given his dominance from within the arc. Over the course of 11 full seasons, he’s shot under 31% from 3 in 10 seasons. The one year he did cross 31% and shot 34.7% from beyond was his rookie year.
With 19 games under his belt in 2024-25, he’s attempted 19 threes and made merely 3 of them. Shooting from beyond simply doesn’t seem to be in the cards for the ‘Greek Freak’. The idea of guarding him face-up when he’s outside of the 3-point line at a consistent rate is a pipe dream for Bucks coaching staff.
The caveat here is that the Bucks offense was stalling in the waning minutes of this game against the Celtics. A walk-up open three with a trailing Al Horford wasn’t the worst idea out on the floor. Doc Rivers and crew can take solace in the fact that their fate for the night was decided by their best player.
Another positive when it comes to shooting that’s come from this season is Giannis’s mid-range awakening. He’s been shooting 46.5% from mid-range on 4.3 attempts a night. To put this into perspective, this is a higher percentage than Kevin Durant on more attempts than him as well.
The fear of the 2x Bucks MVP blowing past you after falling for his pump-fake from 17 feet away is a tantalizing thought for Bucks staff. Whether he can step a couple feet back and knock threes down at a similar rate is yet to be seen. In most cases, it simply doesn’t translate but with the growth that Giannis has shown; anything could be possible.
