Giannis Antetokounmpo is most dominant when his teammates are dominant, too

Antetokounmpo’s supporting cast took pressure off the MVP candidate’s shoulders

Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to normal with his 29-point, 11-rebound performance in Milwaukee’s 123-102 Game 2 win over Boston. It was a welcome sight after his admittedly poor showing in Game 1: a 22-point home blowout defeat few saw coming.

Antetokounmpo, though, was able to have such a dominant performance because his star teammates came through. Boston had created a defensive wall around the interior in Game 1. Their team defense, along with Al Horford’s individual defense, held Antetokounmpo to just 33 percent shooting on that night.

That wasn’t the case in Game 2. The Celtics defense had to respect Eric Bledsoe, who only scored six points in Game 1, but bounced back for 21 points and five assists. Bledsoe also recorded two blocks, including one early on Kyrie Irving’s alley-oop finish. This was as good of a game as Milwaukee could have asked.

The same can be said for Khris Middleton, who scored 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Twenty-six of those points came in the first three quarters. Middleton sprayed the Celtics for seven threes on 70 percent shooting from deep, including a couple pull-ups in transition.

The Bucks will always be hard to stop when the shooters are hitting their shots. They attempted 47 triples in Game 2, a number Kyrie Irving called “absurd.” Milwaukee made 20. of those 47 (42.5 percent).

Five Bucks hit at least two treys in Game 2. Milwaukee made defensive adjustments to Boston’s pick-and-roll, forcing three Irving turnovers and five from Horford. The Bucks knew the Celtics were a better half-court defense than they were in transition. Milwaukee generated better possessions by turning Boston over, and getting out on the break.

That’s when Antetokounmpo and his Bucks are the best. If Ben Simmons is a great transition player, Antetokounmpo is out of this world. He’s a runaway freight train, LeBron James if he were seven feet tall.

On top of that, Mike Budenholzer started Nikola Mirotic over Sterling Brown to add additional three-point shooting to their rotation. Mirotic only shot 1-of-5 from three, but the threat of him getting hot from deep earned the defense’s respect.

That respect is generally fully focused on Antetokounmpo, a legitimate MVP candidate who carried the Bucks to the No. 1 seed in the East. It’s why Boston was able to key in on him to steal Game 1 in Milwaukee.

But the Celtics had to respect Eric Bledsoe in Game 2. They definitely had to respect Khris Middleton, and Boston had to respect the three-point line, too.

When all eyes aren’t on Giannis, he’s able to dominate. How does Boston respond, when they have to respect all three of Milwaukee’s scorers?