MY ACCOUNT
Giannis Antetokounmpo remains driven to keep improving for the Milwaukee Bucks after chalking up a new franchise record in the 123-114 win over the Houston Rockets.
Antetokounmpo had 41 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks as he became Milwaukee’s all-time leader in the latter category, surpassing Alton Lister (804).
The defending NBA champions halted Houston’s seven-game winning streak behind a monster performance from their star man.
Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis weighed in with 21 points apiece for the Bucks, who improved to 17-10 this season.
Asked afterwards about his new landmark achievement, Antetokounmpo said in a news conference: “It’s big-time. Great compliment to my career. But I’ve gotta keep getting better, gotta keep defending better.
“I feel like sometimes I’m a step behind. I’ve gotta be there early for my team-mates, gotta make sure they know that I’m behind them and I’m ready to help them in any scenario.
“But it’s great. It’s great to have something like that in my career, but I gotta keep on moving forward, keep on getting better, keep on helping my team-mates win games.”
His showing against Houston represented a major gear shift following a lacklustre display in the midweek defeat to the Miami Heat, in which Antetokounmpo managed just 15 points and six rebounds. Only once this season has he ended a game with fewer points.
He is averaging 27.6 points and 11.8 rebounds this season, with his shooting accuracy from the field dipping slightly from 56.9 per cent last term to 53.4 per cent, his lowest since the 2017-18 campaign.
Antetokounmpo seems to have a firm grip on how he can take steps forward and enacted his plan against Houston.
“I just tried to be aggressive, tried to get downhill,” he said. “In the last game I wasn’t as aggressive as I wanted. I wanted to be aggressive, the team wanted me to be aggressive and it kind of worked out in our favour tonight.”
The 27-year-old Greek star was the Finals MVP last season and will have aspirations to take the Bucks deep into the play-offs again this time.
He spoke after this latest tussle of his admiration for the Rockets, who rebounded from a 15-game losing streak to put seven consecutive wins together before this setback.
“They’re playing great. We knew coming in today they’re going to play extremely hard against us and try to prove themselves,” said Antetokounmpo.
“They don’t have a big star, a superstar that takes all the possessions. They have to play together, they have to shoot the ball real well, they have to put themselves in position to be successful. They defend really well and if they keep playing like this they’re going to keep getting better each year.”
The Bucks have had five 40/15/5 games since the three-point era (1980) – Antetokounmpo has all five.
