Damian Lillard tapped into his clutch gene yet again as he dropped 18 points in the 4th quarter to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 5-2 record in tonight’s game against the youthful Detroit Pistons. Whether it was a Dame assist or bucket, the Bucks first year got what he wanted on the offensive end of the floor. Milwaukee however, didn’t win without their fair share of hiccups along the way as the defining moment of the game was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s questionable ejection early in the 3rd for flexing on Isaiah Stewart after dunking on him.
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Dame, the veteran leader of the group, didn’t want to let that ejection affect the group. Despite going down double digits at one point to the Pistons, he rallied the troops and took over, resulting in the 120-118 win.
In his post-game interview, Dame talked about how him and the rest of the Bucks refused to make excuses despite the circumstances.
“Khris also being out, it was an opportunity for us to fold. You know, say, ‘It wasn’t our night, we ain’t making shots, they making tough shots, they gave Giannis [Antetokounmpo] a bad tech.’ We could’ve made a lot of excuses for ourselves and let this one get away. But, on the bench, the energy was positive. We communicated with each other like a real unit and for it to be this early in the season and for it be this new, we came together really well.”
Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo have yet to show the NBA their best
After Damian Lillard’s 39 point Bucks debut, his offensive game began to falter. Understandably so however as he hasn’t played competitive basketball since not making the Playoffs last season with the Blazers and most importantly and more obviously, he’s on a new team for the first time in his NBA career.
Dame has historically started off his seasons slow and heated up midway through up until and after the All-Star break. As for Giannis, his chemistry with Dame just hasn’t been showcased to its highest extent as of yet. Before tonight’s game, duos like Jeremy Sochan-Zach Collins (58) and Killian Hayes-Jalen Duren (43) have run more PnRs than Dame-Giannis (42).
The statistic shown above is absolutely unacceptable when you have one of the greatest rim-running bigs of all time and one of the greatest shooters of all time, both in their prime, on the same team.
If first-time head coach, Adrian Griffin, wants to unlock the Bucks’ offense beyond just ‘Horns’ action near the logo, he needs to run perhaps the simplest set imaginable much more often: Damian Lillard-Giannis Antetokounmpo high screen PnR.
