Raptors facing biggest challenge of season in Antetokounmpo’s Bucks

Kyle Lowry spoke to the media following the Toronto Raptors 106-105 overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets Friday.

TORONTO — On the heels of a disappointing overtime loss in Brooklyn on Friday night, the Toronto Raptors must regroup in time to face what could be their biggest challenge of the season on Sunday: Trying to contain Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Milwaukee Bucks superstar has arguably been the NBA’s best player through the first quarter of the 2018-19 campaign and, early as it may be, has the inside track on the MVP award. Basketball-reference currently has him first in their award tracker, with a 31.5 per cent probability to win the award — double that of the next-highest player, Kevin Durant (Kawhi Leonard currently ranks third).

It’s just one of the measures that confirms what the human eye tells us anyways: Antetokounmpo is as unstoppable a force as there is in basketball right now.

Behind the Greek Freak’s unique brand of on-court brilliance, the Milwaukee Bucks sit second behind the Raptors and represent Toronto’s biggest competition in the East. They’ve embraced the modern game’s three-point barrage and boast the NBA’s top offence. In the significant shadow Antetokounmpo tends to cast, it’s easy to forget that supporting stars like Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, and the reinvented Brook Lopez — now a consummate stretch-five — have performed well and help make the Bucks a tough out on any given night.

The team didn’t even need Antetokounmpo the last time they faced the Raptors, a 124-109 blowout with their superstar sidelined. Of course, Toronto was without Leonard for that contest, and with the East’s two best players squaring off against one another on Sunday the second matchup between the conference’s two best teams is sure to take on a different feel.

“I think they’re both going to want to go at each other,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse after a lengthy practice on Saturday afternoon. “There’s nothing like going one-on-one against a guy to see where you stand against him.”

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While he’s never been touted as the all-around offensive threat like his peers in Leonard and Durant, one of the reasons behind Antetokounmpo’s monstrous campaign is that he’s embracing his strengths like never before. At six-foot-11 and 240 pounds of chiseled muscle with an explosive first step and Stretch Armstrong arms, he can finish at the rim like few others and, by the time the season wraps, that statement will likely have to be amended to read ‘like no other.’ The NBA has been recording at-the-rim zone shooting numbers since 1996, and Antetokounmpo is on track to break the record for makes below the basket.

Milwuakee has surrounded him with more shooters than ever, which further allows him to dominate inside. And he’s been doing just that. In the process, he’s on his way to becoming the most efficient scorer in that range since those stats have been tracked.

The splits between his shooting numbers inside the paint versus outside are staggering. He shoots 80.3 per cent within three feet of the hoop — a number that has risen each of his six seasons in the league.

Outside of three feet? Just 25.7 per cent. And while he’s taking a career-high 2.5 three-point attempts — a result of playing in new coach Mike Budenholzer’s three-point-happy offence — he’s shooting a career-low 10.7 per cent from beyond the arc (compare that to 30 per cent last season).

So, there’s a pretty clear scouting report on the guy. And yet, he remains utterly unstoppable.

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Greg Monroe won’t forget the first time he saw what Antetokounmpo is capable of up close. The Raptors veteran centre and former Buck was still a member of the Detroit Pistons, the team that drafted him, and was playing against Milwaukee during one of the first games of Antetokounmpo’s rookie season.

On a fastbreak, the lanky teenager — he was just 19 at the time — barrelled down the court in transition, collected a pass just beyond the free-throw line, took a step and took off for a soaring dunk. “He didn’t take a dribble, just one gather, and jumped,” Monroe recalls. “He was in the air longer than everybody.”

When Monroe joined Milwaukee for the 2015-16 season, moments like that became daily occurrences in practices. “You just saw the athleticism, the length, and the drive early. You knew he was destined to be great.”

More than a physical force of nature, Antetokounmpo is also developing into a genuine competitor. Last week he talked about his unwillingness to practice and work out with stars from other teams, a common practice in the NBA that he doesn’t subscribe to. “I can’t work out with you in the summer and then play you in a few months,” he told The Athletic on Friday. “It feels weird. It doesn’t feel right with me. It’s cool for other players, but I don’t. I don’t want to… I hate that,” he continued. “I don’t want (opponents) to see me to be buddy-buddy with me.”

All the ingredients are there for a generational superstar.

“He’s probably the hardest worker I’ve ever played with,” says Monroe. “Hands down.”

As he’s improved on the court — becoming a gifted passer and bona fide two-way force — he’s also been at work in the weight room and has bulked up considerably since he first entered the league.

He’s been using that added strength to finish through bodies at the rim — sometimes almost literally.

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The team around him has played its part, too, although after a scorching 7-0 start to the season the Bucks have cooled off a bit and are just 9-8 since. In the search for depth in the backcourt, Milwaukee swung a trade on Friday afternoon, landing veteran point guard George Hill from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Hill isn’t expected to be in action in time for Sunday’s game in Toronto.

For Antetokounmpo, his MVP-calibre season comes as a shock to absolutely nobody. He’s improved every year, helping to transform the Bucks from something of a laughing stock to a team legitimately worth fearing.

“My first year there was when he really, really blew up,” Monroe says. “And still, from the time I got there to right now he’s gotten so much better. It’s amazing how far he’s come in such a short time, but at the same time, being there and seeing how he works I can’t say I’m surprised.

“I’m happy for him,” he adds. “But we’re going to try to kick their ass tomorrow.”

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