The Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo sealed the victory of the Milwaukee Bucks against the Chicago Bulls (113-97) with a double double of 46 points, 16 rebounds and six assists with a 72.2% success rate in his shots, some numbers, with that level of success, which in the history of the NBA has only been achieved by Walt Bellamy, Bob McAdoo, Joel Embiid and on three occasions Wilt Chamberlain.
Antetokounmpo, who led the fifth consecutive victory for Doc Rivers’ team, shone with 16 of 23 field goals, two of three in triples and connected twelve of his 16 free throws in a duel played at the United Center in Chicago marked by crashes and controversial, with a type two flagrant foul called on Montenegrin Nikola Vucevic and a type one foul awarded to DeMar DeRozan.
The Greek’s monumental performance allowed Damian Lillard to have a relatively quiet night, with 16 points, despite a modest four of 18 shooting from the field. Coby White was the Bulls’ leading scorer with 22 points, while Vucevic had 17 points and nine rebounds before he was ejected. DeMar DeRozan, the star of Wednesday’s double overtime victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers, did not exceed twelve points. The Bucks, who have their best winning streak in 2024, are third in the East with a balance of 40 wins and 21 losses. The Bulls are ninth in the same Conference (28-32).
It was a very physical game at the United Center. Giannis pushed Chicago’s defense to the limit and dominated in the paint, leading the Bucks who took control of the duel and did not allow their rivals to get closer. The Greek was already close to a double double at halftime with 23 points and eight rebounds, the result of a brilliant six of eight in field goals, a triple and a six of eight from the free throw line.
Giannis continued to be sweet and opened the second half with eleven points in less than seven minutes. He made a magnificent tackle to put two points on the board and hit his second triple of the night to make it 73-58. The Greek celebrated with his brother Thanasis while Billy Donovan called a timeout on the Bulls.
The physical intensity never dropped in the game, but in the second half sparks began to fly. The referees called a flagrant type 1 foul on DeRozan for hitting Bobby Portis after he provoked him after denying him a rebound. In the fourth period it was Vucevic who committed a type 2 flagrant foul on AJ Green and ended up ejected from the game.
The Bucks already led 88-76 and sealed a 13-0 that shot their lead up to 25 points with 6.48 to play. Beverly, a Chicago native and former Bulls player, scored the 101-76 layup and celebrated by provoking the local crowd. He took his foot off the accelerator very soon in Milwaukee and the Bulls closed the gap to thirteen points, but, with less than 2:30 minutes left, it was too late to reopen the match.
