Giannis Antetokounmpo addresses trade report, reaffirms commitment to Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed a trade report after practice on Oct. 8, during which he reaffirmed his commitment to team.
CHICAGO – The Milwaukee Bucks led the Chicago Bulls by as many as 12 points early in the game when the starters were in and never trailed after that in winning 127-121 on Oct. 12 at the United Center.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 13 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes of play in his debut, while new center Myles Turner added 19 points on 5 of 8 shooting from behind the 3-point line. AJ Green (3-for-8) and Gary Trent Jr. (3-for-10) hit three 3-pointers each, leading a Bucks’ barrage of 18 made 3-pointers through three quarters.
Six of the Bucks’ top 10 players in the game reached double figures, with Kyle Kuzma (19) and Ryan Rollins (14) reaching double figures off the bench.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 127, Bulls 121
Ayo Dosunmu led Chicago with 22 points while Matas Buzelis had 19.
The Bucks are now 3-0 in the preseason while the Bulls fell to 2-1.
Milwaukee will wrap up its preseason schedule on Oct. 14 against Oklahoma City at Fiserv Forum. The regular season begins on Oct. 21 for the Bucks, as they welcome back Khris Middleton and his Washington Wizards.
Here two big takeaways from the game:
Giannis Antetokounmpo makes season debut
On the eve of training camp, Antetokounmpo said his confidence is at an all-time high as a player after leading Greece to its first Euro Basket medal since 2009. At the end of last season, he acknowledged that he thought the “last phase” of his development as a player would be as the ultimate playmaker, the truest “point forward” he’s been, in setting up the Bucks offense while remaining one of the league’s most dominant scorers.
To date, though, everyone has had to wait to see all of that confidence manifest on the court.
Antetokounmpo’s training camp was delayed with a bout of COVID-19, and he just ramped up to five-on-five, full-contact practices on Oct. 11 before heading to Chicago.
So, while maybe not totally in full form, Antetokounmpo made his debut on Oct. 12 against the Bulls and in his 22 minutes of action the outline of what this reimagined Bucks team could be was sketched out.
Antetokounmpo called for a sub after about five minutes of action in the first quarter as he had to catch his breath following a frenetic opening spurt where the Bucks built a 19-7 lead behind four 3-pointers and crisp ball movement.
In that stretch, Antetokounmpo didn’t have a shot and recorded one assist – but he had “hockey” assists on three consecutive 3-pointers where his ability to draw multiple defenders led to a kick-out and then an additional swing to an even more open 3-point shot.
After returning in the second quarter, Antetokounmpo scored eight points, had four rebounds and two assists in nine minutes of play. In that stretch he looked every bit his dominant self, as the Bulls struggled to find an answer for his power to the rim.
Antetokounmpo joined the rest of the starters to open the second half, and after playing a little over six minutes in that frame his night was done with 13 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes. He was 6 of 10 from the floor and 1 of 2 from the free throw line.
Bucks get long look at bench rotations
Through two preseason games without Giannis Antetokounmpo – and therefore Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis Jr. filling in for him in the starting lineup – the Bucks deployed two variations of a “second unit.”
On Oct. 6 in Miami, with Kuzma starting, the Bucks subbed in Cole Anthony and Ryan Rollins in the back court, Portis and Tauren Prince at the forwards and Jericho Sims at center.
On Oct. 9 vs. Detroit, with Portis starting, it was Anthony, Ryan, Prince and Amir Coffey along with Sims.
Through the first two weeks of training camp, head coach Doc Rivers said he has liked the buy-in from all those players in accepting their role and working together with one another – “so far.”
Rivers said he feels positive that the team will continue to do so but acknowledged that once a starting lineup is set things can change.
“Listen, I’ve been in this too long. It is off the charts great, all right. We gotta keep it that way. And if we do, we’re just going to be a very hard team to beat.”
With Antetokounmpo starting in Chicago alongside Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green and Myles Turner, we got a first look at a different combination of second-unit players with the starters.
But the first all-bench group were the following: Kuzma, Portis, Cole Anthony, Ryan Rollins and Taurean Prince.
They were all together beginning at the 3-minute mark of the first quarter with the Bucks holding a 24-19 lead. They maintained that advantage and took a 35-29 lead into the second quarter, which the group began. That unit stretched the lead to 10 before holding a 39-32 lead with Antetokounmpo checked back in with 9:23 to go in the second quarter.
Even Bucks GM Jon Horst was curious about how the team would handle “non-Giannis” minutes, and at least for a stretch in Chicago the all-bench group showed it can create good shots and score (and defend) enough to keep a lead as the starters began cycling back into play.
Individually, each member of the bench had negative +/- (the point differential when that player was on the floor) until late in the fourth quarter when Kuzma had a plus-differential, but the Bucks did get a good look at several missed open 3-point shots while they were on the court.
Through the first three quarters, those 10 players were the ones Rivers played. Sims and Coffey finally checked in early in the fourth quarter.
In his hopes continued buy-in from the middle of the roster Rivers added, without naming players, that some want to be part of the second wave coming in because of the potential within the group.
“I think the second unit is…” Rivers said, before stopping himself to reset his thought, and add some emphasis to it.
“I believe the second unit is one of those units, at some point, a fan, or someone is gonna tag them with a name and they’re gonna become, you know, that group,” Rivers continued. “The ‘dog pound,’ the whatever. Hopefully a fan can be creative enough to come up with a nickname that catches. I’m not creative enough. You guys might start calling them something. Like, my first with the (Orlando) Magic (in 1999-2000) suddenly we’re the ‘heart and hustle.’ That didn’t come from the beginning of the year. That just, all of a sudden we became ‘heart and hustle.’ And it took a life of its own. I really believe our second unit will have that.”
Chicago Bulls’ Dalen Terry ejected for trying to punch Taurean Prince
With 33.6 seconds left in the third quarter, Bulls guard Dalen Terry was called for a travel and he and Prince got tangled up after the whistle. But the conversation between the pair escalated instantly, with heated words being exchanged to the point Terry tried to punch Prince before they were eventually separated.
Because of his attempt at hitting Prince, Terry was ejected. He and Prince were also issued technical fouls. On the periphery of the play, Portis and Bulls center Zach Collins were also issued technical fouls.
Four numbers
5: Players assessed with five technical fouls. Four players got technicals after a confrontation between the teams with 33.6 seconds left in the third quarter and Bucks’ guard Andre Jackson Jr. was hit with a technical with a little over a minute in the game after he was hit hard by two different Bulls while defending – and was called for a personal foul.
66.7%: Chicago’s effectiveness inside the 3-point line in the first half, as the Bulls scored 32 of their 61 first half points on 2-point shots.
15: First half fouls by the Bucks, which helped the Bulls go 14-for-18 from the free throw line. Conversely, Milwaukee was just 2-for-5 from the free throw line in the first half. The Bucks top 10 players played every minute of the first three quarters and were called for 23 fouls. Chicago was 24-for-32 from the free throw line, helping keep it close despite the fact the Bucks made 11 more 3-pointers at that point.
19: Points for Myles Turner, the most explosive offensive showing in three games for the new Bucks center. He was 5-for-8 from behind the 3-point line and had six rebounds in 24 minutes. Though four of those made triples came off assists from Kevin Porter Jr., Turner clearly found himself with more space to shoot when playing alongside Antetokounmpo. The two were also able to run some actions together, which was their first opportunity to do so since Antetokounmpo only began practice live on Oct. 11.
Is Giannis playing?
Yes. Following practice on Oct. 11, Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to make his preseason debut against the Bulls. Antetokounmpo joined the team late after contracting COVID-19, beginning his training camp on Oct. 4. He has gradually ramped up his conditioning level.
Bucks starters
- Guards: Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr.
- Forwards: AJ Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Center: Myles Turner
Bucks injury report
There are no formal injury reports in the preseason, but Rivers said all players participated in practice on Oct. 11. Kyle Kuzma, who had missed the game against Detroit on Oct. 9 with a hip flexor issue caused by new shoes, said he was good to go against Chicago as well.
What channel are the Bucks on?
The game will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin. Lisa Byington and Marques Johnson will be on the call.
Bucks vs. Bulls odds, over/under
The Bucks are 1.5-point favorites over the Bulls, with the over/under set at 231.5 points per BetMGM.
