MILWAUKEE, WI–When one looks down at the box score, one will see that Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had another monstrous game with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. He shot 13-for-23 from the floor and he drilled two triples as he had another ho-hum game for him.
However, when one watches the game, one will see that the Sixers bothered him into a lot of really tough shots and he just made shots because he is that good. The Sixers were able to come away with a 123-120 win over the Bucks as they played just enough defense and got just enough offense from everybody to get it done.
The Sixers went big in the starting lineup as they moved Georges Niang into the lineup in order to defend Antetokounmpo and he did a solid job against him all night.
“Georges is a pest,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He’s a pest to me, he’s a pest to his teammates. He’s a pest to everybody so you use guys like that on guys like Giannis. He just held his own. Giannis is great. Giannis is gonna get points, he’s gonna get plays, but he didn’t get them easy. Everything came hard.”
Niang is not the quickest guy in the world. He uses his size and strength to make an impact on the defensive end of the floor and he was able to bother the star forward all night long.
“I think the biggest thing was just throw off his timing,” said Niang. “A lot of guys let him ramp up and get to his right hand and drive downhill and let him get rhythm. Obviously, you don’t completely stop a guy like that. Just make him take as many tough shots as he had to and Joel did a great job behind me of trusting in our defense and being a wall back there and giving me the opportunity to push up and be the anchor back there.”
Niang did defend Antetokounmpo in the team’s first matchup back in November because the Sixers were severely shorthanded. He was able to draw from that game and he dug deep in order to bother him enough to get a win.
“Last time we played them, I had to guard him, because we had nobody,” Niang laughed. “I’ve had a little bit of experience, but I’m a competitor. I’m gonna go out there and give it my all whether it’s an All-Star or it’s a G League guy. I love the game of basketball, I love to hoop, and when a challenge is presented in front of me, I’m gonna go out there and give it my all.”
With that being said, while Niang was obviously the main guy defending Antetokounmpo on this night, he wanted to give credit to everybody on the roster who stepped up and got the job done.
“The whole team did a great job, actually, so credit to everybody,” Niang added. “It’s a group effort to stop him.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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