Anteto leaves, Milwaukee does not lose and Ben Simmons is the worst unemployed

Start of the season wonder for the top favourites. The top executives of the NBA at least endorse it. Milwaukee Bucks is at the top of the pools and already has three wins in two games to show off. They are not even playing with all their strength, they are missing a Khris Middleton who still has time out and it seems incredible that he is one of the three most important players in the squad. They play by heart and it favors them to face a rival who seems to have taken the measure. Last year they were also found at the opening of the campaign and we must not disdain the episode of Kevin Durant’s slipper in his non-triple to win that 2021 tie without which the Wisconsin team would not have won the title. At present Giannis Antetokounmpo acts as general of this army perfectly trained for the occasion. The conditions were not right for this duel to go all out and the Greek limited himself to following his roadmap to bring victory to his sardine.

This match played at the Fiserv Forum was resolved with a 110-99 that lit up the faces of those present. Giannis spoiled the show by sweeping: 43 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. In the most aggressive mode of the tank that was bought when arriving in this League. Little could they do Durant (33) e Irving (27) in the face of such a display. In addition, another of the boys who were key in those remembered playoffs A year and a half ago, Bobby Portis garnished Anteto’s points salad with 20 for his portion and a double-double for dessert. The partial of the second half of the meeting was 67-44. The Bucks squeezed when they wanted.

Brooklyn like eating a pivot to alleviate his problems inside. Their two main players control the outside and they have two good shooters in Harris or Mills, O’Neale provides outside defense and Nic Claxton is insufficient. Here they lost the rebound battle by 17. It is a reliable measure if you look at the squad and try to recompose the place. That’s not why Steve Nash got fired up enough to get ejected for the first time since he’s been a coach, it was for a call about Patty Mills, but it could very well be. The hole that Giannis Antetokounmpo makes in every opponent he faces can’t distract the Nets from dealing with that problem of both generation and protection inside the zone. The NBA gives chances to balance these imbalances, which in this case are structural, that will not be the problem.

The Nets look closely at everything Ben Simmons does and more after another game in which he is the protagonist without doing it well or badly, keeping the lukewarmness, and having on the other side a genius performance like Anteto’s. After his lack of control with fouls, which has led him to be eliminated in two of the three previous games, breaking a negative record in the competition (no one since Geiger in 1995/96 with the first three games), comes the lack of confidence in the basket shot. There was much talk during the night of a frank position facing the hoop in which Irving directly yells at his teammate to encourage him to shoot. He was about ten feet from the target and turned to start the play again. Memories of that almost made layup that was the beginning of his torment in the 76ers, another sign of his lack of courage and with which Embiid, Rivers and half of Philadelphia fell on him. In the subsequent press conference Kyrie had to take off the cape with the press: “You come to ask all the time: ‘And what about Ben?’ He hasn’t played in two years. Give him a fucking chance. We’re just here to reinforce him in a positive way.”. His 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals contribute, the only thing missing is for him to loosen up in individual or resolution attacks to scare away that ghost. Although the dwarfs grow: during an action he noticed a pain in his back, one of the legs that support his stiffness, and, despite saying that he feels good, he is a doubt for the next Nets game (against the Mavericks).