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Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Toronto Raptors at Fiserv Forum on January 15 and recorded their third defeat in five outings. The Bucks lost the game 103-96 as it seemed like the physicality of the Raptors was too much for them to handle.
NBA players are notorious for barking at refs for missed calls and getting T'd up right after. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo has tried to complain less about these calls to avoid getting hit with a technical foul.
Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal once had a message for the New York Knicks' Julius Randle, telling him to play through contact. This was because O'Neal knew big men would not get as many calls, and that is what Giannis intends to do.
Speaking post-game, the Greek was asked how he managed to cope with the Raptors defense and he said:
"Obviously, you know what kind of team they are. They always come, play hard. They have big guys that can defend, they can shore help, they can be physical. But as a team, I think we handled it well."
Giannis had 17 free throws in the game. But head coach Mike Budenholzer believes he should have gotten at least 10 more because of how physical the Raptors were with him. When asked what he thought about Bud's comments, he replied:
"I want to save my money."
After chuckling a bit, he continued:
"I don't know, I'm not the referee. I just play the game, play basketball. Just try to play through contact, make the right decisions. At the end of the day, if I drove the ball, the foul wasn't called, it wasn't a foul. So, I'm not going to complain. Just got to play through it, play through contact, save my money."
The reigning NBA Finals MVP said he would continue to be more aggressive and get downhill more in games. His willingness to continuously attack the paint and ability to dominate has played a significant role in the team's success.
Can Giannis Antetokounmpo lead the Milwaukee Bucks to back-to-back championships?
It has been fun to watch Giannis Antetokounmpo go to work every other night, which is why the Bucks have a decent shot at winning the title. Although they were not the heavy favorites coming into the season, they have gotten the job done on the floor.
They currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with a 27-18 record. Although they had a slow start because their starters were sidelined due to injuries, they have picked up the pace.
So far, Giannis is averaging 28.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists while shooting 53.9% from the field. He is also leading the MVP race according to the NBA's latest MVP rankings.
It's also worth noting that the Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant recently suffered a knee injury. This means the race for the MVP award is wide open and highly favors Giannis if he can continue to lead his team to victories every other night.
Guess the Lakers players!
