The Milwaukee Bucks went down with a whimper on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Atlanta Hawks by a final score of 111-98. After a 36-point outburst in the first quarter, the Bucks struggled mightily to generate sustainable offense throughout the day but, amid their team-wide issues, Milwaukee received a top-shelf performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo finished the day with 33 points (on 13-for-22 shooting), eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals. As if that wasn’t enough, the rangy forward also submitted the play of the day for either team, surprising Atlanta’s Thabo Sefolosha with a preposterous blocked shot on a fast break.
At this point, the game was at least somewhat in doubt with approximately six minutes to go, and Antetokounmpo wasn’t ready to let the Hawks pull away. Milwaukee’s favorite son looked to be at least ten feet behind Sefolosha on the other side of the halfcourt line, but Antetokounmpo closed with incredibly lengthy steps and used his wingspan to pick the shot out of the air before it reached the backboard.
There might be one or two players in the NBA that could make this play outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo, but he was the one that did it on Sunday and it was spectacular.
