During the Milwaukee Bucks’ loss to the Boston Celtics on November 22, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Adrian Griffin had a heated exchange when Antetokounmpo checked out of the game midway through the third quarter.
Griffin, who is in his first year as head coach of the Bucks, downplayed the exchange.
“He wanted to stay in. I wanted to give him a breather. That’s all it was,” Griffin said. “And then I told him to stay at the table for one possession and he got right back out there.”
The Bucks lost to the Celtics 119-116. Antetokounmpo played 36 minutes and finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Adrian Griffin, Milwaukee Bucks Updates
“We just gotta be better,” Antetokounmpo said. “They want to shoot a lot of 3s. They get comfortable by shooting 3s. They play well when they shoot 3s and then they’re able to break down your defense and drive the ball, get in the paint and then kick it out for another 3. We got to do a better job to just defend the 3-point line, keeping guys in front of us. Hopefully next time, when we play them, we can do that. Or next time we play another team that wants to shoot a lot of 3s, we can do (that).”
The Bucks are 10-5 on the season. They were down 29-17 to the Celtics after the first quarter.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Adrian Griffin, Milwaukee Bucks Updates
“I wish I knew,” Antetokounmpo said when a reporter asked him why the Bucks start games slow. “If I knew the secret formula of how we’ll start the first quarter always engaged and make shots, I’ll do it every single time because I have an obsessive personality, but I don’t. Sometimes you start well, sometimes you don’t. It’s part of the game. Today, we didn’t start well.”
Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists on the season.
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