Boston Celtics 123-128 Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks dunks in the game against the Boston Celtics at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 16, 2020.
The Bucks claimed their fifth straight victory and vengeance on the Celtics at the Fiserv Forum on Thursday on the back of Giannis Antetokounmpo's 32 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists. Though he missed all attempts from the 3-point line, the Greek Freak kept assaulting the opponents' rim, earning 20 free throws.
After this win, the Bucks continued to lead the whole league with a 37-6 record. Many expect them to break the team's best record of 66 wins in the 1970-71 season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks grabs a rebound in the game against the Boston Celtics at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 16, 2020.
"We're not chasing wins," Milwaukee's general manager Jon Horst told Duke's head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "I do think that playoff seeding matters. I think our seeding matters and we want to be intentional and careful about how we end up seeding-wise, but we're not chasing total wins. What we're chasing is we want to be an NBA champion. We want to be better than we were last year. Last year we fell short of the Finals; this year we want to get to the Finals. We want to get there healthy."
The Bucks are doing well in limiting Antetokounmpo's time on court (30.6 minutes) this season. By contrast, the other major contenders for the 2020 NBA MVP have been playing longer so far – LeBron James (34.9 minutes), Luka Doncic (32.8 minutes).
Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots against the Boston Celtics at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 16, 2020.
Of course, the good work done by his teammates also made sure that Antetokounmpo did not have to risk his bones on the court. For example, in Thursday's game, the Bucks buried 12 3-pointers at a rate of 80 percent in the first half and once led by 27 points (58-31).
However, the Celtics managed to catch up in the end, thanks to a team effort. Kemba Walker put down 40 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and it was his 24 points in Q2 that helped the Celtics stand up to the Bucks' devastating offense in the quarter.
As Milwaukee began to grow cold from the 3-point line in the second half, Boston launched their counterstrike and seemed to be able to turn the game back to a fair contest, if there were no George Hill.
George Hill #3 of the Milwaukee Bucks drives forward against the Boston Celtics at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 16, 2020.
Hill, 33, averaged 9.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 21.2 minutes per game this season. Meanwhile, he could make 1.5 3-pointers at a rate of 51.3 percent on average. These statistics said he's a qualified bench orchestrator but Hill's more than that. He's Milwaukee's most dangerous assassin.
When Hill replaced Eric Bledsoe at 7:14 in the third quarter, the Celtics had already narrowed the score difference to nine points (84-74). When he left at the end of the quarter, the Bucks had again established a 19-point lead (103-84).
What did Hill do? If you check the stats, you will find that he scored five points (two free throws, one 3-pointer), delivered one assist to help Kyle Korver make a triple, grabbed one defensive rebound and committed a foul. Simple as that.
George Hill # of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots against the Boston Celtics at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 16, 2020.
What could only be found by watching the game was that Hill managed to take back control of the game pace. One of the major reasons for the Celtics catching up in the second half was that they dragged the Bucks into a run & gun contest. The Bucks, in spite of their better athleticism, are indeed the bigger team and it's not to their advantage to vie with the smaller, faster Celtics in speed.
Hill knows that and broke the fast game pace. He dribbled, read the court, made sure that Antetokounmpo could receive the ball in the position he likes, drove with one single purpose of earning free throws and tried to distract the opponents' defense via off-ball movements. His work was simple, but effective. That's also why he and Korver had the best RPMs (18 and 13 respectively).
Utah Jazz 132-138 New Orleans Pelicans
Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans drives towards the rim in the game against the Utah Jazz at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 16, 2020.
Though Zion Williamson's NBA debut was again delayed, Pelicans fans did not need to feel lost on Thursday because their team put an end to the Jazz's 10-game winning streak at the Smoothie King Center and their young star Brandon Ingram scored a career-high 49 points.
Having been 15-25 in field goals, 3-8 from the 3-point line and 16-20 in free throws, Ingram became the youngest player (22 years and 136 days old) in franchise history to drop 45+ points, surpassing Anthony Davis.
Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans dunks over Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 16, 2020.
"To come back after that, my teammates were still locked in and we wanted it more than the other team tonight. We stepped up in all areas and we were able to pull it out," said Ingram after the game.
"He's come into his own. It's Brandon Ingram time now. Since I've known him, he's been a confident person. But this whole year, he's been on a whole other level. Obviously, he's our go-to guy on this team and we trust him," said Pelicans' point guard Lonzo Ball.
Other results on Thursday (home teams in bold):
Phoenix Suns 121-98 New York Knicks
Denver Nuggets 134-131 Golden State Warriors
Orlando Magic 95-122 Los Angeles Clippers