Antetokounmpo tank, destroys Minnesota with epic stats and bids farewell to 2022 with 40-year record

The longest road trip of the season took its toll on the Bucks, but early Saturday morning (12/31), the 2021 champions returned home and defeated the Timberwolves (123-114) to end their four-game losing streak. The Milwaukee team struggled a lot in the first half but had a good third period and got the result with Giannis Antetokounmpo in a wild state to change the time with a good mentality before playing two more games at the Fiserv Forum against the Washington Wizards gave.

The Bucks went up to 23-12 (15-3 home and 8-9 away) with the Greek freak working things and wonders and after the legendary 45/22/5 he wrote in Chicago he wrote 43/20/ 5 for the first consecutive 40/20 since Moses Malone in 1982 and the first consecutive 40/20/5 since Wilt Chamberlain in 1966. This time, of course, he also won with Bobby Portis He did an incredible job for another double-double, which came off the bench and Joe Ingles showed why he can be considered a game changer on this team. The Aussie made the shots, made the games and worked well with Antetokounmpo on a night when Jrue Holiday was sidelined through illness and Khris Middleton with a knee problem.

The Timberwolves fell to 16-20 (9-8 home and 7-12 away), without the injured Karl-Anthony Towns and the ill Rudy Gober, and as a result faltered sharply near the goal. The hard-fought Anthony Edwards fought with incredible tenacity for the night’s hero, Naz Reed – Luca Garza also played with passion, but D’Angelo Russell was poor and the otherwise respectable Minnesota team won’t be able to do much against their last race of 2022 .

The Milwaukee Bucks’ next opponents are the Washington Wizards, in two games in three nights. First on Monday morning at 03:00 and then on Wednesday morning and again at 03:00.

Antetokounmpo’s account

He was impressively aggressive early on, coming into play with 4/4 2-points and 2/2 assists, and whenever he decided to attack the Timberwolves’ defense he either scored or was fouled to go to the line reach. And when he decided to create, those around him found iron.

For example, in 20′ the Bucks had 2/19 threes, with the Greek freak finishing the first half with 22 points from 7/12 twos, 8/13 shots and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes. By the end of the night he had posted his second straight 40/20/5. Shocking, showman and with a mentality that is rare these days.

43 points
13/22 two-hand
1/1 three points
14/21 shots
20 setbacks
5 assists
1 steal
2 blocks
5 errors
3 fouls
16 earned fouls
+9 to +/-
37.5 USG%
at 37:50

50-58 bat points, 15-20 surprise points, 48-42 spare points, 9-18 opponent foul points, 26-15 second chance points (offensive rebounds), with the Bucks having nearly twice as many rebounds (79-41) than the Timberwolves.

The race

Minnesota’s start to the match was good (13-15 in 5′), but even better was that of Giannis, who quickly scored 10 points from 4/4 two-pointers and 2/3 shots. The Timberwolves didn’t have their greats, but they had pluralism, shot well, believed in building a six-point lead (21-27) and finished the period +1. At the same time, Portis had emerged as Antetokounmpo’s backup (11 points, 5/7 shooting), but the Bucks’ defense had yet to play at a good level, at least consistently.

Early in the second, Milwaukee tried to play more intensely, but Lopez’s third foul made the rotation difficult. Budenholzer threw Green and Mamukelasvili early in the two-way match, with Giannis remaining the ultimate threat to the Wolves’ defense. But also with 2/19 trebles after 20 minutes of play, a performance that did not allow the home team to play good basketball, nor to take the lead. An even worse two minutes dropped them to -13 (42-55), flattered by the half-time score. Even if they still had 20 rebounds!

While Antetokounmpo continued to attack and scored his first three, the Bucks went into the second half with a goal of closing the gap quickly. They did, their lead reaching 29 midway through the third period before breaking a three-pointer and dishing out assists for a Green Portis three-pointer that narrowed to a point (73-74) at 32 minutes . The water had entered the gully, Giannis and Portis scored 79-74 in apotheosis and 89-83 at the end of the 12-minute period had given Elafia the joy that the pressure for the result had masked.

Ingles, Portis and Carter gave full throttle at the beginning of the fourth, the difference shrank to ten (99-89) and 16 (105-89) a little later thanks to new long-range shots from Allen and Green. And yet the Timberwolves did not give up the match. A foul by Jaylen Nowell took them down to five (110-105) in the 45th minute, but there Antetokounmpo responded again with a basket and an assist for Lopez for a foul that led to another brace. digit lead. And in the final of the game that was interesting and the great performance of the world’s best player.

THE DODECALPTA: 33-34, 50-61, 89-83, 123-114

MILWAUKEE BUCKS (Mike Budenholzer): Connaughton 2 (0/6 3-pointers, 4 rebounds), Antetokounmpo 43 (13/22 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointers, 14/21 shooting, 20 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks in 37:50), Lopez 13 (5/8 2-pointers, 0/3 3-pointers, 3/4 shots, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks), Allen 7 (2/4 3-pointers, 4 rebounds) , Carter 10 (2 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, 5 assists), Beauchamp 5, Portis 22 (6/12 2-pointers, 3/5 3-pointers, 14 rebounds), Ingles 14 (4/7 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 10 assists), Green 7 (2), Mamukelasvili

MINNESOTA TIMBER WOLVES (Chris Finch): McDaniels 4, Anderson 7 (4 assists), Reed 16 (5/11 2-pointers, 2/8 3-pointers, 7 rebounds), Edwards 30 (8/14 2-pointers, 2/6 3 -Pointers, 8/14 shots, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks), Russell 15 (3/10 shots, 8/8 shots, 5 rebounds, 7 assists), Rivers, Nowell 16 (1), Knight, Garza 16 (5/7 2-pointers, 6/6 shots), Ryan 10 (2)

Milwaukee Bucks team stats: 29/54 2-pointers, 14/39 3-pointers, 23/33 shots, 79 rebounds, 25 assists, 5 steals, 8 blocks, 21 turnovers, 25 fouls

Minnesota Timberwolves team stats: 32/62 2-pointers, 8/30 3-pointers, 26/34 shots, 41 rebounds, 18 assists, 10 steals, 5 blocks, 8 turnovers, 28 fouls