Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking no excuses for the team's horrific performance against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday
The Milwaukee Bucks got bit by the back-to-back bug on Saturday night, getting blown by the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 119-95. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 32 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a lackluster effort that saw just three of his teammates reach double figures in scoring for the game.
While losing on the second leg of a back-to-back may garner you some extra understanding in a normal circumstance, Antetokounmpo isn’t buying any excuses. Not only were the Lakers also on a back-to-back, but both of their games were at home, while both of Milwaukee’s were on the road.
“Anybody that plays in the NBA knows that back-to-backs are part of the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “It's part of the NBA season. You gotta get ready for that, you’ve got to prep mentally, for the load over back-to-back. You’ve got to exercise in the offseason, so you are able to play back-to-back.
“It's not an excuse. Were the Lakers on the back-to-back, too? Yeah. So, that's not an excuse. We didn't play well. We'd better try not to make excuses as an athlete as a human being. I think they played better than us.”
Antetokounmpo also expressed immense disappointment toward the Bucks’ first-half performance, in which the team scored just 32 points en route to finishing below a total of 100 points in a game for the first time this season. The Hornets and Raptors had each previously held the Bucks to exactly 100 points in their respective wins against Milwaukee.
“We scored 32 points in the first half, right?” Antetokounmpo said. “That's not good enough. That's on pace to score 64 points in the whole game. Obviously, shots that we usually make, they didn't go in, but that cannot dictate our defense.
The two-time MVP Antetokounmpo also stressed the importance of stepping up in other areas when the shots aren’t falling early, like what occurred on Saturday night. From putting your body on the line for rebounds to simply feeding the post in search of easier shots, Antetokounmpo made it clear that impact on the court comes in many forms.
“At the end of the day, if the shot goes in, the shot doesn't go in, you’ve got to be able to still play hard, still put your body on the line. Still be able to rebound the ball. Sometimes the shots not gonna go in, but you’ve got to get the ball in the paint to try to make something happen.”