Giannis Antetokounmpo Focussed On Winning After Landmark Game
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo produced one of the best shooting performances of his career on Tuesday night against Indiana.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points on 17-of-21 shooting to lead the Bucks to a 128 – 119 victory. Remarkably, he scored those 50 points on just 21 attempts, the fourth fewest in league history.
It was the first time Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points since Game 6 of the NBA Finals last year. As well as that, it was the third time he has scored 50 in the regular season, and his first regular season 50-point haul since November 2019.
It’s a season high for the Greek Freak, and he also added 14 rebounds and 4 assists. He is the third player in NBA history with 50 points and 10 rebounds on 80% shooting from the field. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Karl Malone have achieved the same feat.
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In spite of this, Giannis is more happy that he helped his team win than about individual achievement.
“Obviously it’s a nice feeling to have 50, you always remember it, but I care about winning,” he said.Â
“I want to win games. Fifties, 40s, 30s all those things, accolades are going to come, but they only come with winning. If your main focus, your No. 1 thing is winning, you do whatever it takes to finish the game. Sometimes it’s, shoot more. Sometimes you’ve got to defend more. Everything else comes, but if you’re thinking about let me get 50, let me get mine, it doesn’t work that way. You’ve always got to focus on winning.”
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He did however allow himself to take some satisfaction from his free-throw prowess, having made 14-of-18 on the night.
“I get upset when I miss free throws,” Antetokounmpo said. “Like, I work too hard. I love when I make my free throws. It gives me rhythm, it makes me feel good. I can miss every 3, I can miss a layup, but when I make my free throws it’s like my dopamine hit because I work extremely hard to make them.
“It just makes the game easier, it makes me able to drive the ball all the time. I’m excited to go to the free throw line, and I don’t second-guess myself anymore.”
