On Feb. 16, the Milwaukee Bucks played at home against the Indiana Pacers, with Jaylen Smith starting in his third game since being traded to the Pacers by the Phoenix Suns. The second-year center quickly got into form, showing his presence. He first hit a three-pointer to open the scoring for the Pacers, and in the middle of the first quarter, he hit another three-pointer in the bottom corner. But Smith started as fast as he turned off, scoring 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and six fouls in 17 minutes.
It's not because Smith isn't playing well enough, but because he's targeting a player who no one in the NBA can give an answer: Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Greek monsters, stone breaking! Swallow like a tiger.
The defending champion defeated the Pacers 128-119, with "Alphabet Brother" Giannis Antetokounmpo shooting 17-of-21, 3-of-2 three-pointers, 14-of-18 free throws, and 50 points and 14 rebounds. It was his third regular season 50-game game so far in his career, behind Karim Abdul-Abdul-Jabbar (10 games) in Bucks history.
"This efficiency, that's Giannis. He's so special. Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game, "It's hard to understand a 50-point shot with 21 shots. It took just 21 shots to blast 50 points, and Alphabet Brother became the fourth-fewest player in NBA history to shoot 50+ points in a single game.
With a sore left ankle, Alphabet missed the Bucks' last game against the Portland Trail Blazers, a game in which he returned in full form. This is his first 50 points in a single game since Game 6 of last year's Finals, and he has also made 25 shots in the Finals. The 50 points are also the highest single-game scores of the alphabet brother this season, plus he has also grabbed 14 rebounds, making him the third player in NBA history to score 80% of the shooting rate without a 50+10 record. The top two were: Wilt Chamberlain (4 times) and Carl Malone.
Jordan Walla of the Bucks said: "Seeing this scene in person is really special, and the real crazy thing is that Giannis makes it easy to make everything in front of you look. When I saw him score 50th, the crowd was cheering, like ,'Oh my God, he didn't sweat.' In the dressing room, Brother Alphabet is still full of energy, and that's just part of what makes him a great player. ”
During the game, Alphabet brother caused great damage to the Pacers' interior line, scoring a total of 26 points on the Pacers' interior line, and also completed the season's highest 7 dunks so far.
"He's a letter brother, he's one of the best players in the NBA. He does it every night. [The Bucks] have the best players in the NBA, and nobody can stop him, but you can suppress his play, but we can't do it well. He made it difficult for us to deal with and threw a lot of difficult balls. Pacers guard Teres Halliburton said.
Other teams in the league know that free throws are the soft underbelly of the alphabet brother. In last season's playoffs, because of the poor free throw shooting rate, whenever the alphabet brother stood on the free throw line, the away fans would start counting down, interfering with his free throws. In this game, the Pacers were also forced to constantly foul The Alphabet Brother, praying he would concede a throw at the free throw line. But since winning the championship, free throws are no longer the devil of the alphabet brother, and his free throw shooting rate (72%) this season is better than in the past two seasons, and his average of 11.3 free throws per game has also set a new career high.
'When I miss a free throw, I'm very upset. Brother Alphabet said, "I put a lot of effort into practicing free throws. I love making free throws, it gives me rhythm and makes me feel really good. I'm going to miss three-pointers, I'm going to miss layups, and that doesn't make me sad. However, once I missed the free throw, I would be in a very bad mood. My physical instincts will tell me that I put a lot of effort into the free throws. ”
"It makes the game easier and I can keep dribbling through. I'm so excited about going to the free throw line that I'll never doubt myself again. Alphabet brother said.
The Pacers hadn't won a game since the trade, so they were particularly willing to win this game and showed great tenacity. Barty Hield bounced back strongly after 1-of-13 from the previous three-pointer, scoring a season-high 36 and shooting a game-high eight three-pointers.
In the third quarter, Hield scored three points to help the team narrow the gap to two points. Halliburton scored another three-pointer late in the third quarter to tie the score to 94-95, but alphabet was unstoppable. Alphabet Brother scored 19 points in the final quarter, shooting all seven, including a three-pointer.
The 50-point shooter also brought Alphabet Brother's average of 29.4 points per game this season, surpassing Joel Embiid as the leading scorer this season. On the defensive end, he is also the first to be the first in the NBA official website's best defensive player list. With Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green sidelined with injury, it seems only a matter of time before Alphabet wins Best Defensive Player for the second time. When he was on the court, the opponent's shooting percentage dropped by 13.2%, and the shooting rate of the players in his position also dropped by 5.1% compared with usual. The current situation is that the data can no longer fully prove how good the alphabet brother really is, whether it is the offensive end or the defensive end.
Alphabet Brother had a chance to break his career single-game scoring record of 52 points, but unfortunately he missed three free throws. He also realized that he had missed an opportunity, but he did not feel sorry.
'Obviously, it's wonderful to have 50 points and I'll always remember it, but I'm more concerned about winning the game. Brother Alphabet said, "I want to win the game, only when I win, a single game to cut 50 points, 40 points, 30 points can be meaningful." 」 Only by making winning the game the only goal can we do everything we can to complete the game. Sometimes I may influence the game with offense, and sometimes you need to defend more, but the ultimate orientation is to win the game. If you just let me play for 50 points, for the stats, I can't do that, I'll just focus on winning the game. ”