"There's 67 games left": Giannis Antetokounmpo quashes all notions of rattled Bucks despite tumultuous start
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks have struggled to start the 2024-2025 NBA season, only winning six of their first 15 games. On Wednesday night, the Bucks picked up their fourth win in five games after defeating the Chicago Bulls 122-106, igniting a possible resurgence going into the middle of the regular season.
After the win, the "Greek Freak" addressed the Bucks’ early season struggles as he reaffirmed the calmness within the team, despite the rough start. Giannis Antetokounmpo also expressed optimism about the Bucks’ current winning trend while speaking in the postgame press conference, emphasizing the number of games left in the season.
“There’s still a lot of games. There’s 67 games left. We are trending towards the right direction, we’re winning at home…It’s not that bad,” Antetokounmpo said.
“At the end of the day, we have a lot of season left. It’s easy for us to put our heads down, but we’re not going to do that. We are not going to feel bad about ourselves. I don’t expect nobody to feel bad about us.
“We just want to be training towards the right direction, playing good basketball, trusting one another, moving the ball, and putting ourselves in position to win games. And try to win as many games as we can,” he added.
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Antetokounmpo finished the night with 41 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes.
Before beating the Bulls, the Bucks took down the Houston Rockets at home courtesy of Damian Lillard’s game-winning layup. They also defeated the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors on their home floor in this stretch.
Their struggles have mostly come on road games, recording a 1-6 slate so far. At home, the Bucks have been solid with a 5-3 record so far.
As expected, Antetokounmpo and Lillard have been leading the charge this season. The former NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year is averaging 31.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 blocks per game while Lillard has backed him up with 25.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 6.9 apg.
Giannis Antetokounmpo explains why it’s hard to put Damian Lillard off the ball
When he was traded to the Bucks, Damian Lillard was expected to relieve offensive pressure from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The "Greek Freak" explained in a same press conference after losing to the Boston Celtics on Nov. 10 why it is hard for the team to play Lillard off-ball, especially in crucial situations.
"It's kind of hard," Antetokounmpo said. "[Damian Lillard] is our primary ball handler. You want to give the ball back to Dame. ... We did it at times but down the stretch was so locked in sometimes to just give the ball back to Dame. So you just got to wait for him to either make a move or open up. I think it's a blessing and a curse at the same time."
The Bucks are also missing former All-Star Khris Middleton, who has been a longtime offensive partner of Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee.
The Bucks face the Indiana Pacers next in an NBA Cup group stage game at Fiserv Forum on Friday as they try to extend their winning run.