Blazers' Streak Ends With Loss To Bucks And Dominant Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis made history on Friday, and Portland was powerless to stop him.
Notes, analysis, observations, clips and more from the Trail Blazers' 127-109 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday at Moda Center.
- There are only a handful of defenders in the world with the physical traits needed to even make life difficult for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and none of them play for the Blazers. That was obvious coming into Friday's game, of course, but the ease with which Antetokokounmpo dominated Portland was shocking nonetheless. This is the rare case when video-game numbers like 47 points on 18-of-21 shooting actually fail to do Antetokounmpo's performance proper justice. Why? All three of his misses came from beyond the arc. Antetokounmpo was a historic 18-of-18 on twos, converting all 15 of his shots from the restricted area and all three of his tries from mid-range. If the narrative swings far enough for Antetokounmpo to win a third straight MVP – making him part of an exclusive club featuring just Bill Russell, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird – this will be the game that provided the initial momentum for him to do it.
- The numbers say otherwise, but Portland actually did try to guard Antetokounmpo on Friday. Robert Covington got the primary assignment after halftime, proving expectedly overwhelmed physically in every aspect imaginable. He wasn't helped by the Blazers' collective lack of length and aggressiveness behind the point of attack. But we knew Portland didn't have the personnel to wall off the paint when putting a wing on Antetokounmpo. What Terry Stotts hoped is that the sheer size of Jusuf Nurkic would bother Antetokounmpo enough in the paint to compensate for an unavoidable quickness deficiency, a calculation that proved dead wrong. The two-time reigning MVP went right at Nurkic from the opening tip, walking into isos with quick-hitting, herky-jerky dribbles before finishing around him with multiple long-arm layups. Giving Antetokounmpo space didn't work, either; he needed no headstart whatsoever to beat Nurkic even when he wasn't hitting wide-open mid-range jumpers. Antetokounmpo is a better player this season. His handle is tighter, he's a more dynamic passer and the Bucks are finally taking full advantage of his talents as a roll man. But the Blazers were absolutely helpless to stop him on Friday, the most forceful reminder in a season full of them that they just don't have an answer for the game's cream-of-the-crop wings.
Jusuf Nurkic resorted to defending Giannis Antetokounmpo like this in the halfcourt. It didn't work.
NBC Sports Northwest/NBA
- It bears mentioning that the Blazers' best moments defensively came with both Nurkic and Enes Kanter on the bench. They're just more locked in from a help perspective when downsizing, perhaps knowing they must account for a lack of size with extra intensity and communication. Milwaukee, with Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, is the wrong team for Portland to go small against. Stotts' team just doesn't have the defensive horses to deal with those guys one-on-one, even when help behind the play is sound. Still, Friday's game provided a bit more evidence that the Blazers' relative success defensively when going small will be sustainable against certain teams going forward.
- Jrue Holiday has a case as the best one-on-one defender in basketball, while Damian Lillard has one as the league's toughest individual matchup. Both players know it, and clearly relish the opportunity to go toe-to-toe against the best of the best this league has to offer. For Lillard, that meant expending loads of extra effort freeing himself from Holiday away from the ball, and pulling out every trick in his bag to create slivers of space when he had it. This ridiculous pull-up three from the first quarter is a perfect example of the subtle brilliance Lillard offers on a game-by-game basis, as well as the incredible level of difficulty it takes to get a clean look when being guarded by Holiday. As frustrating as it is for Blazers fans to watch Holiday hound Lillard the several times they meet a season, it's just as enjoyable for non-partisans to watch them go at it. That there's obvious mutual respect between them only makes the Lillard-Holiday rivalry that much more gratifying for basketball die-hards.
- Lillard in the first quarter: 13 points, 3-of-3 from the field, 2-of-2 on threes and 5-of-6 six at the free throw line. His teammates: Eight points, 3-of-20 from the field, 1-of-10 on threes and 2-of-4 at the free throw line. Considering the immense struggles of Lillard's supporting cast, it's a small miracle Portland was only down 34-21 after the opening quarter.
- A bright spot in perhaps Nurkic's most ineffective performance since he returned from injury? This statuesque poster dunk on former teammate Pat Connaughton.