Who can stop Giannis and the Bucks in the NBA?
This unexpected start has led the current members of the team to equal an all-time franchise record that dated back to the 1971-1972 and 2018-2019 campaigns, when they also signed an undefeated in their first seven appearances.
One of the big culprits behind this impressive mark is, of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo “The Greek Freak”, who so far this season is averaging 33.6 points per night. Much has been said that the two-time MVP is the most dominant player in the league and game after game proves it.
In the Bucks’ seven games leading up to Friday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Antetokounmpo has put up all but one of 30 or more points for the Bucks and in two of those he has topped 40 and in only one of those (the first of two against the Detroit Pistons) did he not record double digits on the boards.
On the opening night against Philadelphia 76ers he had 21 points, he scored 44 against Houston Rockets, 43 against Brooklyn Nets, 30 against New York Knicks; Atlanta Hawks got 34 from the Greek and in their two-game series against the Pistons he scored 31 and 32 points, respectively.
In this way the Bucks star starts a solid path to win the MVP award again and although he does not need to prove anything, on Friday he has a test that if passed will elevate him and underline Milwaukee as one of the candidates for the title that are one step above those called to make a long run in the Playoffs.
Giannis will face the ‘power duo’ the T-Wolves have in Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert on the court.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year and KAT form one of the NBA’s most storied pairs, something that the San Antonio Spurs had decades ago with the ‘Twin Towers’ Tim Duncan and David Robinson and whose historic successes have not been matched by any other pair of ‘greats’.
The Frenchman and the Dominican are still finding a way to mesh on the court and coach Chris Finch is finding a way to get the most out of the dominance that each of them has at their position, something that has not been as easy as it seemed on paper.
For now, the ‘Go-Towns’ have the Wolves in tenth place in the Western Conference with a 4-4 (.500) record; apparently having them together isn’t just a matter of putting them on the court. According to ESPN Stats & Info research, Gobert and Towns have only shared the court for 185 minutes during which Minnesota has been down by an average of eight units.
What will Giannis face?
Beyond the altitude, the Greek will have a busy night.
In the midcourt Gobert has posted three double-double games: 22 points and 21 boards in the win over the Los Angeles Lakers; 15 points and the same number of rebounds in his second win over the Oklahoma City Thunder; and another 23 points plus 16 boards on opening night against OKC. In the loss to the Utah Jazz, Gobert finished with 23 rebounds.
The struggle with KAT will be on the perimeter, as although the Dominican is good at attacking the paint he is currently averaging 46.8% shooting from the field and averaging 21.3 points, 5.3 assists and 8.0 rebounds.
We will have to wait until minutes before the Tip-off to know if coach Finch decides to start with his two big men to try to stop Giannis or alternating them to ‘tire’ (if he gets tired) the ‘Greek Monster’ who leads the Bucks.
