Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 6,761,032 votes from the public and was named leader of the Eastern Conference All-Star Team. “The Greek Freak” also came first in the players’ preferences and second in the media’s.
For the third time in his career, the Greek superstar of the Milwaukee Bucks was chosen to lead one of the two NBA All-Star Game teams, facing on the opposing team LeBron James, who was named captain for the sixth year in a row.
“This year is my seventh and I 28 years old and I will never take it for granted, hopefully I can have seven more, but you never know. This might knock on wood. Let me knock on wood,” he said after the victory over the Pacers.
“So my goal is very, very simple. Obviously, Jrue, Jrue Holiday is going to be on my team. So we know that. I don’t know how the form is going to be, if you’re going to pick the starters first ot the reserve first, but whatever it is, Jrue Holiday gotta be on my team.,” explained Antetokounmpo.
“Just having him in the locker room and going through this experience with him would be an awesome experience, also feeling. You know they say GM Lebron has never lost in the All-Star Game and hopefully this can be the first time he loses.”
Giannis has two very important goals for All-Star. pic.twitter.com/8R3DYRsBYg
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 28, 2023
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks held on for a 141-131 win over the host Indiana Pacers on Friday night in Indianapolis.
In a scoring onslaught for Milwaukee, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton complemented Antetokounmpo with 23 and 17 points, respectively. Seven Bucks players scored in double figures, including Brook Lopez (15), Pat Connaughton (14), Jevon Carter (12) and Grayson Allen (13).
Myles Turner led the way for Indiana with 24 points, with Buddy Hield close behind with 22. Rookie Bennedict Mathurin also contributed 21, while T.J. McConnell added 19. The Pacers were without Tyrese Haliburton for the ninth game in a row.
It was a 3-point barrage early on as both teams combined to shoot 14-for-27 from beyond the arc in the first quarter alone. Wesley Matthews beat the buzzer to make it 45-30 Milwaukee.
Milwaukee used a strong second quarter to take a commanding 85-56 lead going into the break. It was the highest scoring first half of the season for the Bucks, as Middleton scored all 17 of his points in the half.
The Bucks at one point had a 33-point lead, but Indiana cut the deficit to 15 by the end of the third quarter. The Pacers were able to draw within just seven in the fourth quarter when Mathurin’s basket trimmed the Bucks’ lead to 131-124 with 3:29 to play.
Allen sank a 3-pointer with just over a minute to go to extend the lead to 12, icing the game for Milwaukee.
Hield, the NBA’s leader in 3-point shots made, led all players with 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Bucks took a 2-0 season-series lead and won their 10th consecutive game against Indiana. Both teams return to action on Sunday as Indiana travels to Memphis and Milwaukee heads back home to take on New Orleans.
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