NBA Playoffs: How Miami Heat are Winning the Battle Against Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been a beast all season. However, he’s been unable to deliver his MVP caliber quality in the second-round series against the Miami Heat. The Bucks are now down 3-0 and face an uphill task of doing the impossible. No team has ever come back from being in this situation. But how has Miami been so successful in containing Giannis? 

Milwaukee’s struggles against the Heat have prolonged because Giannis hasn’t found a way to overpower their defense. The 25-year-old has been heavily restricted by Miami in every game that he’s played this year. 

Miami Heat vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo

When Giannis is locked down, the Bucks suffer on the offensive end. Coming into the semi-final series, one would have expected Giannis to dominate against the Heat and record convincing victories with the Bucks. But the stats weren’t on his side, and the present struggles faced by the reigning MVP have painted a worrisome picture for the Bucks franchise. 

A woeful free-throw shooting percentage has shined an embarrassing light on the ‘Greek Freak.’ He has been struggling to convert his free-throws in this series, which comes as a surprise because he is a 72.2% career FT shooter.

In Game 3, Giannis attempted and failed miserably from the three-point range. He attempted seven shots from behind the arc but failed to convert any. But why was Giannis forced to take a high amount of 3-point shots when he only averaged a single three-point attempt in the previous two games? 

Giannis Antetokounmpo forced to lose his rhythm by Heat defenders

Giannis is a dominating presence in the paint. However, Miami has been extremely successful in limiting his force in this series. A large part of that goes to the way the team defends a player like Giannis. 

Limiting a player like Giannis begins with altering his focus on the court. That is only possible with a strong defensive unit at one’s disposal and Miami Heat contains the required elements that effectively contribute to stopping Giannis. 

Putting Bam Adebayo in charge of blocking Giannis’ shots has been the game-changer. When Bam defended Giannis at the rim, he skilfully guarded the Bucks forward in a way that he lost his footing. 

Besides Bam, the Heat as a unit has been defending Antetokounmpo in an effective way. When the 25-year-old gets the ball, the person in charge of guarding him receives extra help from a second man, who fakes a two-man, sometimes even a three-man game. Regardless of the position, the Heat always have backup defenders ready to make the charge to defend the 6’11” forward.

Giannis seemed extremely uncomfortable when he had two defenders constantly bodying him during possession. Even with the raw strength that he possesses, Giannis was unable to deliver the powerful blows that he frequently does in games. 

The Heat defenders wonderfully deceived Giannis with their on-court stunts. Two players would act like they were coming into the play to force a move from the ‘Greek Freak.’ During these situations, Antetokounmpo would lose his balance which gave away the ball to his opposition. Miami largely capitalized by forcing a mistake from Giannis by constantly putting two defenders on him. Along with this, the physicality of Adebayo added to the strength and helped in containing Antetokounmpo’s raw power.

Miami Heat have dominated the Bucks this season

The Bucks have lost a lot of buckets in this series due to the promptness of the Heat defenders who would take on deceiving roles to stop the ‘Greek Freak.’ Giannis posted 21.0 points in Game 3, but his dominance did not uplift the Bucks.  Moreover, in the 2019/20 NBA season, the Heat were the only team to register multiple victories against the Bucks. Milwaukee came into the playoffs carrying the best record, but have struggled to replicate their form in the second-round series.

Bam Adebayo’s courageous defending against Giannis set the tone for the entire Heat team. They defended him with complete focus whenever he had the ball in his hands. As soon as he got a pass, Giannis would grab the attention of three-four Heat defenders, which made it a challenging task to score. 

It was indeed a demanding task to restrict Giannis for three straight games. Even though the Bucks star registered three consecutive double-doubles, the X-factor was missing.

The Heat collectively did an amazing job to hold out the likely two-time MVP and deter his confidence. Will Game 4 be a sweep or will the Bucks live to fight another day?