Philadelphia 76ers can neutralize Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Philadelphia 76ers might be the only team in the whole NBA that has the personal to neutralize the reigning MVP of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Fans of the Philadelphia 76ers got a very special Christmas Day gift. The Sixers were able to defeat the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks. Not only did they beat the Bucks 121-109, but they were able to effectively neutralize the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, aka “The Greek Freak”.

Antetokounmpo was held to just 18 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, one steal, one block, three turnovers and three fouls, while only converting 8-27 shots from the field and going 0-7 from on 3-pointers. Antetokounmpo missed more shot in this game then he ever has in any other single game of his career, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

This was only the third time this season that Antetokounmpo was held below 20 points in a single game. The other two times were in a blowout win against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the other was in a victory against the Indiana Pacers, however he still shot 47.1 percent from the field versus Indiana, but shot a season-low in free throw attempts that game.

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Against the 76ers, Antetokounmpo only converting 29.6 percent of his shots, which is a season-low in field goal percentage. It was also just the fifth time this season that he failed to convert any of his 3-point attempts in a single game.

Considering that Antetokounmpo is having a better season than the previous one in which he won the MVP, it’s a big deal that Philly was able to neutralize him on offense. The Sixers were able to do so by their personal.

Joel Embiid and Al Horford are two of the better defensive big men in the NBA. Embiid is 7-feet tall and Horford is 6-foot-9, compared to Antetokounmpo who is 6-foot-11. Thanks to their defensive skills and height both did a solid job defending Antetokounmpo.

When Embiid was the primary defender on Antetokounmpo, “The Greek Freak” went 1-9 from he floor and 0-3 from downtown, while only scoring just four points. With Horford as the primary defender, Antetokounmpo went 3-7 from the field and 0-3 from downtown, while only scoring six points.

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That means that Antetokounmpo went 4-16 and 0-6 from deep, while scoring 10 points against the 76ers starting bigs. The rest of the team was able to hold him to eight points on 4-11 shooting on field goal attempts, which is also very impressive.

Philly packed in the paint against and dared Antetokounmpo to be an outside shooter. It worked as he failed to make a 3-pointer in the game and tied for the second most 3-piont attempts he had in a single game this year. On the season he’s shot 32.7 percent from downtown, which isn’t great, but not nearly as bad as he shooting against the Sixers was.

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The Philadelphia 76ers can’t bet on Antetokounmpo missing every one of his 3-point attempts when playing against the Bucks. However, the Sixers have the defensive minded big men that can make life in the paint hard for Antetokounmpo and the 76ers are more than okay with him shooting 3-pointers. This ability to defend “The Greek Freak” could make the difference for Philly in winning a playoff series against Milwaukee.