On arrival, the defending champion missed a great opportunity to break and will have to prepare for a tough fight in Boston tomorrow to try to regain the advantage.
Already head to Game 5
Like he usually does, Giannis Antetokounmpo assumed this setback and is already planning for the rest of the events.
“I don’t think anything happens by chance. It was not our game. We were ahead in scoring, we were able to defend well for three quarters, we weren’t too bad in the fourth but they just put their shots in. » does he think. « It wasn’t our day, we have to take our hats off to them and look at what we can do best in Game 5. »
For the first time this season, the 2021 Finals MVP exceeded 40 minutes of play, a sign that Mike Budenholzer tried his best to try to keep control of the game at the end. Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered in the last act with just two baskets in seven attempts. But this is not the time for whining.
“I just play basketball, I try to make the right choices, to be aggressive, to play for the win, as much as possible. Of course, it’s not easy, no one said it was going to be. I always give everything I have and that’s fine with me. At the end of the day, we know what is coming up now. We’re gonna have to go to Boston, play some good basketball there. But how we feel physically, our moods and all that, nobody cares. »
Keep the same mindset in the group
Even if the result is not there, the « Greek Freak » tries to quickly move on to something else, aware that the wheel of the playoffs can turn from one game to another.
As Mike Budenholzer tells his group often enough, the outside perception can completely change depending on the result, but the mindset inside the group must remain the same.
“Some nights the shots will come in and some nights they won’t, but in terms of the aggressiveness and that ‘fear of nothing’ side of the mentality, it’s still there. In Game 2 the shots weren’t falling in, but our mindset hasn’t changed, from the start and that’s not going to change in Game 5. If I don’t put my shots in or commit a bunch of errors, that’s how it is. But the desire to be aggressive and give everything for the team, that will never change. »he continued. “That’s the thing with the playoffs. When you win, you feel great, and when you lose, it’s the opposite. But at the end of the day, I know what it is, our team knows what it has to do, take the bus and try to win a match. What I feel doesn’t matter. Emotions are for movies, not for basketball.
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2013-14 | MIL | 77 | 25 | 41.4 | 34.7 | 68.3 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 6.8 |
| 2014-15 | MIL | 81 | 31 | 49.1 | 15.9 | 74.1 | 1.2 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 12.7 |
| 2015-16 | MIL | 80 | 35 | 50.6 | 25.7 | 72.4 | 1.4 | 6.2 | 7.7 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 16.9 |
| 2016-17 | MIL | 80 | 36 | 52.1 | 27.2 | 77.0 | 1.8 | 7.0 | 8.8 | 5.4 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 22.9 |
| 2017-18 | MIL | 75 | 37 | 52.9 | 30.7 | 76.0 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 4.8 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 26.9 |
| 2018-19 ★ | MIL | 72 | 33 | 57.8 | 25.6 | 72.9 | 2.2 | 10.3 | 12.5 | 5.9 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 27.7 |
| 2019-20 ★ | MIL | 63 | 30 | 55.3 | 30.4 | 63.3 | 2.2 | 11.4 | 13.6 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 29.5 |
| 2020-21 | MIL | 61 | 33 | 56.9 | 30.3 | 68.5 | 1.6 | 9.4 | 11.0 | 5.9 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 28.2 |
| 2021-22 | MIL | 67 | 33 | 55.3 | 29.3 | 72.2 | 2.0 | 9.6 | 11.6 | 5.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 29.9 |
| Total | 656 | 33 | 53.5 | 28.8 | 71.8 | 1.7 | 7.7 | 9.4 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 21.8 | |