The Milwaukee Bucks caught many around the NBA by surprise when they managed to trade for Damian Lillard after his lingering trade request from the Portland Trail Blazers lasted until training camp. Despite needing to part with Jrue Holiday, the Bucks remained persistent and pulled off the trade.
On Sunday, the Bucks gained their first opportunity to see what Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard look like when they share the floor in a 108-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Milwaukee received 16 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks in 15 minutes from “The Greek Freak,” while Lillard played 22 minutes and shot just 3-10 from the floor but had 14 points, four steals, and three assists.
Antetokounmpo sounded very encouraged by the early results he experienced playing alongside his new superstar teammate, describing the “very honest” experience as he’s never had it this easy offensively playing within the half-court due to the attention Lillard commands.
“I’ll be very honest, I’ve never been this open,” Antetokounmpo said. “And first of all, I’ve never seen anybody being double-teamed from the first possession of the game.”
Lillard is accustomed to being blitzed and trapped to get the ball out of his hands constantly throughout games, requiring him to trust his teammate on the short roll to make a play. He is more than happy to give the ball up to allow his new superstar teammate to do damage against a compromised defense.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo & Milwaukee Bucks Updates
“Having another guy out there that’s just dominant,” Lillard said. “He can dominate a game and win you a game. … First couple plays, they blitz me, they trap me, and the guy that I’m releasing the ball to is Giannis. So I’m just like, ‘Uh, we can do this all night.’ You know what I mean?”
Lillard was more than trusting of Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez after accepting the coverage the defense was deploying to get the ball out of his hands. If Antetokounmpo gets a mismatch, he can dominate using his size down low. If he’s getting it on the short roll, he’s able to attack aggressively downhill to either finish at the rim or draw the low man for a spray-out pass to a shooter.
“Today was a great first step in the right direction,” Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said. “You can see those guys love playing together already. And not just Dame and Giannis, but everyone was just pulling for each other.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo & Milwaukee Bucks Updates
The two found a greater rhythm in the second quarter, with the Bucks even leveraging Lillard as an inverted ball screener as one of the “bigs” in Horns sets, with one of the plays resulting in Antetokounmpo receiving a free run to the rim on a cut because of Lillard’s shooting gravity. That’s just scratching the surface of what Milwaukee could utilize regarding approaches.
“We’re going to have a lot of options,” Lillard said. “There’s going to be times where he’s willing to make the play to me, and vice versa, as we saw today.”
The clear reality for the Bucks is they now have the type of offensive threat that can simplify the game even further for Antetokounmpo instead of requiring him to do so much of the creating at the point of attack. For an already dominant player coming off a season averaging 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists, defenses around the NBA should be terrified of what they’ll face.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo & Milwaukee Bucks Updates
Some teams naturally focus on containing Antetokounmpo when picking their poison for game planning. If Antetokounmpo tears apart defenses as a short-roller and by punishing mismatches with his size, the situation could begin to call for Lillard to be on the receiving end of single coverage or after Antetokounmpo gives the ball up against a trap with the defense out of rotation.
As brilliant as Antetokounmpo was last season, Lillard was one of the four players to average more points per game (32.2) than him last season, while chipping in 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds, too. It’s an impressive all-around. Both players now form one of the most prolific duos the NBA has ever seen.
The Bucks open the regular season on Oct. 26 with a matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at Fiserv Forum, presenting a chance to compete against reigning MVP Joel Embiid.
