Just don’t foul. Simple. Your team is 3 points ahead. There is nothing they can do if you don’t foul. Any 6 year old knows it. Only Giannis wasn’t playing basketball at six years old. He started late and his basketball IQ is zero. So he fouled. And then? There is one thing Giannis can do. Run and dunk. So he runs and with almost a second on the clock instead of going for the layup he….shoots a 3 pointer????!!!
Let’s check the facts here. Giannis is not only shooting the 3 worse than ever in his personal career. He is shooting the 3 worse than any NBA player in the history of the NBA. And that is when he is not guarded and not running full speed.
The Milwaukee Bucks squared off against the Indiana Pacers in what promised to be another showcase of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s dominance. Coming into the game, the Bucks sat at 36-27, riding a wave of solid play with Giannis averaging 30.9 points, 12 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game this season on an absurd 60.8% field goal percentage. Sure, that is mainly from easy games and in harder matchups he disappears in clutch time. But against the Pacers specifically, he’s historically been a terror, posting 37.9 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 6.7 assists over his last nine meetings with them entering this season. Fans expected the “Greek Freak” to feast once again at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Instead, what we got was a rare clunker—a performance so poor that it left Bucks fans scratching their heads because they have believing their own hype about Giannis.
The Numbers Tell a Grim Story
Giannis had a night to forget. Picture this: a stat line that might hover around 19 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 assists—numbers that, on paper, don’t scream “disaster” for most players. But for Giannis? That’s a shadow of his usual self, especially against a Pacers team he’s historically torched. A far cry from his season-long efficiency because he is a stat padder anyway you look at it. Throw in a handful of turnovers and maybe a 33% free-throw line, and you’ve got a recipe for a Giannis performance that’s more mortal than mythic. He always shoots much worse under pressure.
The Bucks lost 115-114, a one-point heartbreaker, and Giannis’s fingerprints were all over the collapse.
Where It Went Wrong: A Breakdown
- Inefficiency in the Paint
Giannis lives in the paint. Against the Pacers, though, it seemed like Indiana had his number. Myles Turner and the Pacers’ frontcourt aren’t exactly known for shutting down superstars, but last night, they threw enough bodies at Giannis to disrupt his rhythm. If he was settling for contested mid-range jumpers or getting stuffed at the rim, that’s a red flag. The Pacers’ defense, ranked middling this season, shouldn’t be able to bottle him up like that—not when he’s healthy and locked in. - Free-Throw Woes
Giannis’s free-throw shooting has always been the Achilles’ heel of his game and I have written it will never improve. Last night, though, it might’ve reverted to its old, clanky ways. If he went 3-for-8—or worse—that’s not just points left on the table; it’s momentum handed to Indiana. In a one-point loss, every brick at the line stings twice as hard, and you can bet Bucks fans were groaning through his extended routine at the stripe. - Turnovers Galore
Giannis makes the turnovers pile up, in fact he has the worse assist to turnover ratio in the NBA every season. Against a Pacers team that thrives in transition—especially with Tyrese Haliburton pushing the pace—any sloppy passes or lost dribbles turned into quick buckets the other way. If he coughed it up four or five times, that’s a glaring issue. Indiana’s not elite defensively, but they’re scrappy enough to capitalize on mistakes, and Giannis gave them too many gifts. - The Calf Factor
Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: Giannis has been listed as probable with a nagging left calf strain for weeks now. He’s played through it admirably since returning from a six-game absence in February, but last night, it might’ve finally caught up. Did he look a step slow driving to the basket? Were his explosiveness and lateral quickness dialed back just enough for the Pacers to exploit? It’s a pathetic excuse some people make. Giannis getting injured if anything just shows his low IQ in training as well as playing.
The Eye Test: A Star Out of Sync
Beyond the stats, Giannis was typical Giannis in harder games. That relentless energy, the ability to take over games single-handedly—it was missing as it always does when it matters. The Bucks have leaned on him and Damian Lillard as their one-two punch all season for easy games, but in a tight game like this, you would expect Giannis to impose his will. Instead, he seemed tentative, maybe even frustrated. The Pacers, coming off a 121-103 loss to the Bulls the night before, were ripe for the picking—especially with Haliburton questionable with a hip injury. Yet Giannis couldn’t seize the moment. He is a liability in the fourth quarter, we have seen it many times this season.
The Bigger Picture: Cause for Concern?
One bad game doesn’t define a season, especially for a two-time MVP who’s still in the thick of the MVP race. The Bucks remain a top-tier Eastern Conference team at 36-28 after the loss, and Giannis’s season-long brilliance—30.9 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists—speaks for itself. He’s crossed the 20,000-point career milestone, led Milwaukee to a title in 2021, and continues to be the heart of this squad. But last night’s stumble raises questions.
Teams starting to figure out how to slow him down as the playoffs loom. Even without the famous Giannis wall, one defender that really wants to (and doesn’t mind risking injury against the stupid way Giannis attacks the rim) can stop him. Giannis can’t afford many more nights like this if Milwaukee wants to hold off surging teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers (54-10) or secure a top-four seed. And forget all talk about Giannis as MVP.
Regular season easy games vs games that matter
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s every single metric is much much worse in high pressure games. He doesn’t have a mid range, he screws up both in defence and offence. His free throw shooting is a liability. He should not be on the floor in the fourth quarter. That simple. The worse of all is that he doesn’t know he hasn’t got the basketball IQ or skills to help his team win. So to answer the question Giannis is the worse player in the NBA. Because he doesn’t know what he can’t do and he costs his team everything when it counts the most. Easy game stat padding is almost meaningless.
Reggie Miller suggest Giannis should be on the bench in crunch time 😭💀 pic.twitter.com/9ViMLAcHTK
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) March 12, 2025
