Giannis Antetokounmpo provides reality check for Wizards

The hunt for this year’s NBA MVP is a two-man race, and on Saturday, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo made his latest case for the award.

Throughout the Bucks’ 131-115 win over the Washington Wizards, Antetokounmpo bulldozed his way to the lane, side-stepped around defenders and sprinted in transition. The 24-year-old finished with 37 points and drilled all 17 of his free throw attempts.

For the Wizards, the demolition — they trailed by as many as 32 — was a reality check.

In the event the Wizards make the playoffs, they will likely have to face Antetokoumpo and the Bucks in the first round, given Milwaukee leads the Eastern Conference by two games over the Toronto Raptors. Like many teams this season, the Wizards had no answer for Antetokounmpo.

“The playoffs aren’t here yet,” guard Bradley Beal said. “But that was definitely a message they were sending. We play them again next week. That’s how I take it: They were sending a message for next week.”

Washington still needs to make a push to make the playoffs. Saturday’s loss put them 2 ½ games back of the Miami Heat, who would be the eighth seed if the postseason started today.

But if they get there, what will they do to stop Antetokounmpo and the Bucks? In the past, the Wizards and other teams knew the game plan: Load up the paint and force the Greek star, a streaky shooter, to launch away or pass to his teammates. Because of his near-7 foot frame and dynamic skill set, Antetokounmpo was still effective against this strategy at times, but overall, the Bucks didn’t have the tools to combat it well enough.

Good luck trying that this season.

Under coach Mike Budenholzer, who was hired in May, the Bucks installed a 3-point heavy system and have added the shooters to match it. Seven-foot center Brook Lopez, a key free agent addition, spaces the floor and is shooting a career-high 38 percent from deep. This season, Milwaukee ranks second in both 3-pointers made and attempted.

Now if Antetokounmpo is met with a swarm of bodies in the paint, he’s simply a pass or two away from an open, reliable shooter. With the others having to be accounted for, Antetokounmpo has taken advantage and has posted a career-high field goal percentage (.571).

Antetokounmpo is averaging 26.3 points, 5.8 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game. 

“It’s hard to stop,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “His strides are so long. It’s tough to stop. He just comes at you, and he’s strong. He’s improved their strength. He’s hard to guard.”

There are still plenty of times when teams will throw a number of defenders to stop Antetokounmpo. Yet, the forward’s overwhelming stature and athleticism allow him to score anyway. Against the Wizards, Antetokounmpo bullied defenders in the paint — making 10 of his 14 shots within 0-5 feet of the rim. He was 0-for-6 elsewhere from the field.

Antetokounmpo’s efficiency inside has largely made him one of the favorites to win MVP (James Harden, with his current 26-game streak of scoring 30-plus points, is the other.) He leads the league with 378 field goals inside the restricted area — with 92 more baskets than the next player, Utah’s Rudy Gobert.

For context, Gobert has made exactly 92 more baskets than Indiana’s Thad Young this season — but there are 23 other players between them.

His speed, too, is part of his effectiveness. Antetokounmpo glides on the fast break, using his footwork to evade defenses. In other instances, he’ll actively seek contact to draw fouls.

The latter worked against Washington as his 17 makes were tied for the second-most in his career.

“I’ve been working on it the whole year,” Antetokounmpo said of his free throws. “(It) was a good night. I was able to knock all of them down. I try to not to think about it, because when you start overthinking about it, you start missing.”

Antetokounmpo left the Wizards frustrated. Beal, in a brief two-minute scrum, kept his answers short and appeared irritated with the officials. Guard Tomas Satoransky said they didn’t do a good enough job in transition.

As Beal noted, the Wizards will have another shot at the Bucks soon, when the two teams play again Wednesday in Milwaukee. Washington has pulled off a victory over the Bucks this year — a 113-106 win on Jan. 11 — but Antetekounmpo missed the game with an injury.

On Saturday, the Wizards saw what a difference an MVP-caliber player can make.

“He’s one of those rare players that you have to face in this league that it seems like no matter what you do, you’ve got to do it on point,” Brooks said. “One split-second mistake, he can find you and hurt you.”