Giannis Antetokounmpo made life difficult for Anthony Davis and the Lakers by putting up a near 50-point performance
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We finally got to see the NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee. He came out with a purpose on Wednesday against the Lakers. The Robin to his Batman, Khris Middleton, took the court again after being out due to COVID 19 protocols for 8 games.
Although Giannis is averaging 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 5.8 assists, we didn’t really see that angry and hungry Antetokounmpo yet. But it changed last night as he single handedly took the Lakers apart to get Milwaukee just their 7th win in 15 games.
That’s a slow start for the defending champions, but so is the start of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers unlike the Bucks are missing their Batman, LeBron James. He has missed the last 8 games due to abdominal strain. And his Robin, Anthony Davis, has come up short 5 times in getting the Lakers a win, including the last night’s poor show.
Stephen A Smith called Anthony Davis’ performance ‘shameful’, Giannis ‘spectacular’
“The brow” is averaging 23.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists, but that is not proving enough to take the Lakers through without LeBron. Davis has just two 30 point games in the absence of the King and the Lakers won both those games.
ESPN analyst Stephen A Smith thinks Lakers star needs to do that more often. Going on his typical rant he called AD’s performance against the Bucks shameful.
AD had a bad offensive game no doubt, but Stephen A is off limits in calling it a shameful performance. Davis took the challenge to guard Giannis for much of the game, forcing him to take many fadeaways, jumpers and 3-pointers which generally is a win for a defender.
Anthony Davis’ performance wasn’t as bad as Stephen A claims
You win half the battle when you stop the Greek freak from attacking the rim. Although the 2-time MVP dropped 47 points on Lakers, he did not get them on AD. Davis was at fault for just 9 of Giannis’ 47 points as broken down by this reddit user play by play. It was Giannis’ genius or Vogel’s weak game plan. The Bucks forward took every opportunity the defensive switches gave him.
No question AD was cold offensively and scored just 18 points in the game, but he did play exceptional defense on the 2021 Finals MVP. He made Giannis turn the ball over multiple times by bodying him one-on-one. He even had this monster dunk on Giannis in transition.
ANTHONY DAVIS.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 18, 2021
But Lakers lost this close game 109-102. It is time AD realized that he has got to be the leader Lakers need in LeBron’s absence, on both ends of the floor. He didn’t hesitate in calling out his team after their loss against the Bulls. So he has to come up with array of 30-point games to get Lakers on a winning run.
It’s already a little off that a guy in his 19th year is averaging more than Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. Be that the guy is one of the greatest to ever do it, but he is down with an injury and might have issues throughout this season if he is not properly rested.
The Lakers need someone to come up big on a nightly basis and give LeBron some time off to be his usual self again.
