The Milwaukee Bucks are receiving such widespread contributions that Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t have to do so much.
But he’s still doing a lot for the Bucks, who’ll be hoping he’s available to do that Wednesday night against the host Charlotte Hornets.
The Bucks began a two-game road swing by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 116-114 on Monday night, with Antetokounmpo scoring 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter.
Antetokounmpo was a game-time decision regarding his availability because of a sore knee, so it figures that his status could be iffy going into the matchup in Charlotte. He made impacts even when he wasn’t scoring.
“The 3-ball saved the game for us, and it was from Giannis’ passing,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said.
The Hornets have lost three games in a row and six of their last seven. They made a strong fourth-quarter push Monday night but fell 121-111 to the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.
“It’s really hard to see where we’re at and it’s tough because guys have to embrace roles that are maybe different than in the preseason,” Hornets guard Kon Knueppel said. “That’s frustrating, and losing is frustrating, but we’ll keep at it.”
Charlotte had three rookies — Knueppel, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Sion James — in the starting lineup.
The Bucks are considerably more experienced.
Milwaukee is receiving solid production from Kyle Kuzma, whose shooting numbers reflect career highs. Those include 55.3% from the field and 66.7% on 2-pointers.
Kuzma poured in a season-high 26 points at Dallas.
Rivers said he likes the unselfishness displayed by the Bucks. Myles Turner is often in the game during crunch time, but he deferred to Bobby Portis down the stretch in Dallas.
“He’s such a great leader to have on our team,” Rivers said of Turner.
For his part, Portis drained a season-high three shots from 3-point range against the Mavs.
There are areas for Milwaukee to shore up. The Bucks gave up 26 points to Dallas off turnovers.
Miles Bridges has picked up some of the scoring in the absence of Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball, who was assigned to the G League Tuesday to practice as he prepares to return from an ankle injury that’s kept him out of the past four games.
Bridges had 34 points in Monday’s game, with Knueppel one assist away from his first career triple-double.
“The matchups he’s getting defensively, the different coverages — he’s able to expand his game on that end,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said of Knueppel. “Offensively, he wants to mix it up in every possible facet and impact the game in every way he can; rebounding, making the right plays for his teammates and himself.”
The Bucks go from dealing with one former one-and-done Duke star in Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Monday to planning for another ex-Duke standout in Charlotte’s Knueppel, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft.
The Hornets have been tapping into various sources for production. KJ Simpson logged 20 minutes Monday night.
“Extremely confident in KJ,” Lee said. “He’s going into season No. 2, and I think when we drafted him, we were confident in his abilities to grow.”
Milwaukee hasn’t been a model of consistency. So far this month, it has been unable to win or lose consecutive games. In six November games, the Bucks won twice by two-point margins and lost once by two points.
