Giannis Antetokounmpo called for everyone to fix their mindset after the Milwaukee Bucks fell to their seventh straight defeat, a 118-109 road loss against the New York Knicks.
“Nobody should have a personal agenda. Nobody should worry about what they want from themselves,” Antetokounmpo said via ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Worry only about winning mentality. Winning mindset. The more we can win the games, the more everything takes care of itself.”
“Can I make an excuse that we’ve played a lot of games and guys are tired and it’s a huge load on people? Yeah,” he added. “At the end of the day, you got to come in, do your job, do what you’re paid to do, defend… do the little things. And sometimes, when you worry about doing the little things, all the other things add up.”
In his first game back after recovering from a strained groin, Antetokounmpo didn’t skip a beat. The two-time league MVP produced 30 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists on 10-for-14 shooting from the field and free throw line in the losing effort.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Doc Rivers pinpoints the team’s shortcomings on the court
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers doubled down on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s call to consistently do the little things to help the team win, such as bringing the hustle and avoiding turnovers. He also shared that the Greek Freak is on a minutes restriction.
“We’re outshooting teams… but it’s the turnovers, the offensive rebounding, and it’s the fouls,” Rivers said via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Owczarski. “It’s a numbers game, and we have to win that game. Especially with Giannis (on the court), if we win (the numbers game), we’re going to win the game.”
“Obviously, he was on a minute restriction tonight, which was really difficult in a game like tonight. We lost the lead when we took him off the floor for the most part, but we got to do what we got to do to try to get him back healthy,” he said of Antetokounmpo.
