Giannis Antetokounmpo now has the counter to beat the defenses that stopped him before

Giannis Antetokounmpo has new ways to beat the old defenses he’s used to seeing in the playoffs.

Saturday’s ABC Primetime showcase between the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers had barely begun before one team’s unstoppable force charged straight at the other’s immovable object. Giannis Antetokounmpo caught a pass on the run from Wesley Matthews and charged straight at a waiting Joel Embiid. Ben Simmons pinched in from one side and Glenn Robinson III from the other.

Nobody wants to see Antetokounmpo surging toward them, but the 76ers were as prepared as any team can be. Embiid is a premier rim protector, especially against straight-line drives from athletes like Antetokounmpo. Simmons and Robinson were in position to prevent Antetokounmpo from tap-dancing around Embiid, replicating the shell defense the Raptors used in last year’s playoffs. This is the proven method to stopping the unstoppable force, provided you have the right personnel. Philly, with Embiid and Simmons, have the right personnel.

Or at least it was the proven method to stopping Antetokounmpo, before he could consistently do this.

That 13-foot turnaround baby jumper isn’t the most efficient shot in Antetokounmpo’s arsenal, but it will be the most important come playoff time. It’s the ultimate kill shot, the counter to the only proven strategy to stop the game’s best player. If he masters it, everyone in the NBA is playing for second place come springtime.

Guess what, NBA: Antetokounmpo is starting to master it.

Saturday was an especially deadly showcase of Antetokounmpo’s new fadeaway. He got Embiid again in a similar spot in the second quarter.

This third-quarter post-up against Al Horford — supposedly Antetokounmpo’s kryptonite — looked Dirk-ian.

And this one in the lane looked Olajuwon-esque.

But these shots are nothing new to those who have watched Milwaukee all season. Antetokounmpo has taken a major leap forward on two-point jumpers, both in terms of volume and efficiency. During last year’s regular season, he took just 1.3 shots per game from eight to 16 feet and hit only 35 percent of those attempts. He was slightly better on all two-pointers outside the restricted area (just over 37 percent), but took less than four a game. This year, he’s up to 39.6 percent on 2.2 shots a game from eight to 16 feet and is nearly at 41 percent on more than four-and-a-half non-restricted area two-point shots per contest.

That bodes well for a stronger performance in the playoffs, where his in-between game completely collapsed last season. Antetokounmpo took 60 non-restricted area two-pointers in 15 playoff games last year. He made 13 of them, which is less than 22 percent. He was even worse from the crucial in-between eight to 16 range: three makes, 21 attempts, and zero makes after Game 5 of the Celtics series. For all the worries about Antetokounmpo’s inconsistent three-point shot, he actually shot the ball decently from distance in last year’s postseason. The problem was that he was useless if he couldn’t get layups, dunks, or threes.

Last year, Antetokounmpo had no counter for the few sequences when a team met him at the rim. In the highest-pressure situations, his lack of craft and confidence was obvious.

Maybe his confidence will suffer again this spring, but opponents can’t rely on his lack of craft anymore. This year’s Antetokounmpo is creating far more separation on his turnaround jumpers, thanks largely to a major leap forward in his footwork. (Pun intended.) He’s driving his inside foot deep into defenders’ stances this year, so they can’t recover to bother his shot as easily. Look at the difference in these two sequences.

In the first, he fails to cut off Serge Ibaka’s recovery angle before fading. In the second, he’s driven so far into OG Anunoby’s stance that Anunoby is already on his heels on the fadeaway. That difference gives Antetokounmpo an extra bit of separation, which is all any pro needs.

Balance and flexibility seem like the last traits Antetokounmpo needed to improve, but he had to become as agile after coming to a stop as he already was when sprinting. Now, he is. Look at the position of the plant foot in these plays.

And he doesn’t just plant with one of his two feet. He also does just fine with the other.

That same improved leg strength also has enabled him to step back quicker and further than he could last year. Though he didn’t exactly plant his inside foot into Rudy Gobert’s legs this time, he’s still able to create separation because of a giant leap backwards.

Those steps in and out are happening far quicker than last year, largely because Antetokounmpo is setting them up with harder moves into defenders’ space. This hook shot looks difficult, but he makes it because he’s gone through Kawhi Leonard’s chest before getting to his spot, giving him juuuust enough separation.

Antetokounmpo isn’t exactly Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan on these fadeaways, and the postseason will offer a harsher test of his new mechanics. But Antetokounmpo doesn’t need these shots to be his bread and butter. He just needs to be proficient and confident enough to take them and make a decent percentage when defenses shut off his better options.

After all, the whole point of having a kill shot is to only deploy it when necessary. If Antetokounmpo has actually developed one, he really is an unstoppable force that will topple any immovable object in his path.