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The shutdown of Giannis Antetokounmpo began in transition. The Utah Jazz were able to limit him, take away easy baskets and keeping him away from the free-throw line.
It continued in the halfcourt, where Gordon Hayward took the challenge of containing Milwaukee's All-Star. He hounded him whenever he caught the ball and kept him out of the lane.
Finally, in what turned into an easy 104-88 Jazz win on Wednesday night, the Jazz used help defense on Antetokounmpo, sending extra bodies his way whenever possible.
The result was a Bucks offense that looked rudderless for much of the game.
"I think we did a good job of getting back and trying to take some stuff away in transition," Utah coach Quin Snyder said. "For the most part, I think Gordon was smart and disciplined. We talk a lot about Gordon's offense and playmaking. But one of the areas where I feel like there's been improvement is defensively. He was engaged tonight. There have been times where Gordon's not been as focused on the things that he needs to do defensively. Tonight, he was where he needed to be mentally."
Antetokounmpo entered Wednesday averaging 23.4 points per game. As a 22 year-old with seemingly limitless ability, he's carried the Bucks on a number of occasions this season.
But the Jazz held him to nine points on 2 of 10 shooting from the field. He grabbed six rebounds and he did hand out four assists. But he missed both of his 3-point shots, and he turned the ball over three times.
This is the first time this season that Antetokounmpo has scored in single-digits with the complement of full health and regular rotation minutes (he went scoreless in nine flu-ridden minutes in a 109-107 win over the San Antonio Spurs three weeks ago).
"I think as you get older, you understand if you're going well, or if you're not going well," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "If not, you've got to do something else to impact the game. For us, we're a young team, so we just have to keep learning and going through the process of understanding that the ball isn't falling tonight. I thought Giannis, again, he didn't score a lot of points. But I thought he was effective on the defensive end."
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