Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo cemented his campaign for the MVP award with his dominant 41-point performance in win against the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Cup. It may not look like it but it was a quiet 40-point game for him.
The two teams were neck-to-neck the whole game and Antetokounmpo had to bleed for every score at one point. He was even in danger of ending his streak of scoring above 50 percent until the fourth quarter happened.
Giannis has like 2-3 games like this a year where he just can’t finish at the basket. Super weird when it happens, but this is one of those games. He needs to be a playmaker to loosen up the defense.
— Sammy Mac (@Mas_Smadacm4) November 8, 2025
He recovered and took over to finish at 50 percent on 16-32 shooting. He also had 15 rebounds and nine assists.
His struggle, according to head coach Doc Rivers may have to do with the bench. Instead getting him longer rest, Rivers used the Greek Freak as reinforcement for the bench players after what happened to them in the two games before the Bulls.
“Our bench had not been great so far and we played Giannis in three shifts tonight, which I thought; it’s funny how it works,” Rivers said as quoted by The Athletic reporter Eric Nehm.
“I told [assistant coach] Dave [Joerger] it’s going to be interesting. I think he’s actually getting to play more minutes but he’ll be fresher and I felt that happened tonight.”
Bench without Giannis Antetokounmpo, starters struggled
The dramatic win over the Pacers and the blowout in the hands of Toronto Raptors were learning moments for Rivers and his crew.
They tried to play without any of the starters on the floor and they paid the price for for it.
“That’s an area of concern for us, for sure. We don’t rebound well with that group,” Rivers said days ago.
“We don’t guard the ball well with that group. We don’t handle pick-and-rolls well with that group. And we foul a lot with that group.”
Both Giannis and Myles Turner saw staggering minutes in against the Bulls and it worked wonders for them. Antetokounmpo, who played 37 minutes, which is his second most this season, stepped on another gear by the fourth quarter while Turner had his best scoring game so far with 23.
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