” Are we in the playoffs? It’s not true ! We did it ? Serious ? » Facetious, Giannis Antetokounmpo can do tons to better minimize the effective qualification of his team, which was beyond doubt.
By winning without too much difficulty on the floor of the Suns, his team scored a double blow by recording a 50th victory this season, while ensuring to be present during the final stages.
“ It’s fun, yes it’s fun. You have to keep playing, be competitive and develop good habits. I think our last three games, played in a playoff atmosphere, have been very positive for us. “Judges the Greek in reference to this not very obvious “road trip” to the West.
After a loss in overtime on the floor of the defending champions, without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks followed up with victories in Sacramento, then in Phoenix this night. “ They came back, we kept our cool and won the game by ten points (note: 104-116 in reality). All this outside. It’s positive “, Continues the best scorer, rebounder and passer of the game (36 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists).
“ This makes things more difficult. I’m glad we were able to win and be the first team to qualify for the playoffs “, assures the Greek again. A feeling shared by his coach, Mike Budenholzer: “ We mentioned it in the coaches’ locker room, to appreciate the moment. Making the playoffs in this league is not easy. You should never take anything for granted. Sometimes I forget to celebrate. We have a special, determined team that makes efforts and has the desire to continue to improve. Sometimes I forget to celebrate, I need to improve. »
On track to remain number 1 in the East
He and his team may celebrate later, if the Bucks, for example, manage to retain their first place in the East until the end. A month ago, Giannis Antetokounmpo said he was not making it a goal. But his team chained so much that they easily dislodged the Celtics from the place at the top. First in their conference for two weeks, the Bucks now even have three wins ahead of the C’s!
” I think we play well. The playoffs are obviously in the back of our minds, but I feel like we’re taking one game at a time, winning and trying to execute and be better until the end. . We have a good balance in our team. At any moment someone can explode Jrue Holiday rightly remarks.
The balance is such that the team does not stop winning despite the successive passages of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton in the infirmary. The latter, after his best performance of the year in Sacramento (31 points), was absent last night, where the Greek missed three games in a row earlier in the month.
” It’s just about continuing to improve every day. Don’t take anything for granted, don’t take health for granted, take care of your body, take care of your head and be ready to show up for work “, displays Wesley Matthews. And “ stay humble “, completes its leader.
Despite an exceptional current momentum of 21 wins in 23 outings and the fact that the Bucks become the first team to reach 50 regular season wins for the 6th time in their history. It’s the third time they’ve done so since Mike Budenholzer took over as Wisconsin coach five years ago.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 53 | 32.5 | 54.3 | 28.9 | 65.6 | 2.2 | 9.7 | 11.9 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 31.5 |
| Jrue Holiday | 56 | 33.1 | 47.3 | 38.2 | 85.9 | 1.1 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 7.3 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 19.5 |
| Brook Lopez | 67 | 30.6 | 51.6 | 38.4 | 76.2 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 15.4 |
| Khris Middleton | 25 | 23.4 | 42.6 | 33.1 | 90.0 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 14.5 |
| Bobby Portis | 57 | 26.0 | 50.2 | 34.9 | 82.0 | 2.3 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 13.8 |
| Grayson Allen | 64 | 27.9 | 44.6 | 40.5 | 90.4 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 10.7 |
| Jevon Carter | 68 | 22.4 | 43.1 | 41.9 | 80.6 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 8.0 |
| Pat Connaughton | 50 | 24.5 | 38.2 | 33.8 | 65.7 | 0.8 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 7.9 |
| Joe Ingles | 34 | 22.9 | 42.9 | 39.3 | 82.4 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 7.0 |
| Jordan Nwora | 38 | 15.7 | 38.6 | 39.2 | 86.0 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 6.0 |
| Jae Crowder | 10 | 18.1 | 45.2 | 34.5 | 77.8 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 5.5 |
| Marjon Beauchamp | 41 | 14.0 | 39.0 | 31.7 | 72.4 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| george hill | 35 | 19.1 | 44.7 | 31.1 | 73.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.0 |
| Aj Green | 30 | 9.7 | 44.4 | 43.3 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.6 |
| Serge Ibaka | 16 | 11.6 | 48.1 | 33.3 | 61.5 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.1 |
| Wesley Matthews | 39 | 15.6 | 33.1 | 32.6 | 85.0 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 3.2 |
| Leonard Meyers | 5 | 6.9 | 40.0 | 44.4 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 2.8 |
| Sandro Mamukelashvili | 24 | 9.1 | 32.8 | 21.9 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 2.4 |
| Thanasis Antetokounmpo | 28 | 4.0 | 27.3 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Lindell Wigginton | 1 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
