Started by Herb Jones, Zion Williamson achieves an alley-oop over Giannis Antetokounmpo. On the next possession, the “Greek Freak” places his “spin move” against the inside of the Pelicans and scores.
The tone and theme of the meeting between the Pelicans and the Bucks are set. The standoff between the two interiors is balanced in the first quarter and it is logically when the lieutenants put themselves forward that the difference is made. In this case, it is CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas who stand out.
The gap thus increases to +18 (51-34) for New Orleans, generally more aggressive. On a final shot at the buzzer from Larry Nance Jr, the locals returned to the locker room at +16 (61-45).
How will the Bucks get back into the game? Answer: using the Antetokounmpo hammer. The “Greek Freak” attacks the Pelicans racket on almost every possession and he scores 20 consecutive points in the third quarter! The problem is that if the strategy made it possible to return to one possession, the baskets of Trey Murphy III and Larry Nance Jr. gave the Pelicans a small gap (87-73).
Damian Lillard (finally) comes to the relay from Giannis Antetokounmpo at the end to try to achieve the hold-up, but Zion Williamson in turn bludgeons the Bucks, recovering the free throws which calm his team and allow New Orleans to win (107-100) to stay on the heels of the Clippers.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Hammer duel. With his 28 points at 9/15 shooting, Zion Williamson bludgeoned the Bucks racket, and his aggressiveness at the end of the match did his team good. But as he admitted, Giannis Antetokounmpo is even stronger than him in this register. The “Greek Freak” finished with 35 points on 15/22 shooting and he scored 20 consecutive points in the third quarter, to bring his team back into the match…
– The difference in support. The Pelicans were indeed able to count on the successive contributions of CJ McCollum, Jonas Valanciunas, Trey Murphy III and Larry Nance Jr. to take the advantage in the game, when Giannis Antetokounmpo seemed a little abandoned by his lieutenants, at the image from the 3/12 finale of Khris Middleton.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
