The Milwaukee Bucks certainly experienced some growing pains as superstars Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo continue to learn how to play with one another and Sunday night marked one of those instances as the Atlanta Hawks blew out the Bucks 127-110 in Milwaukee.
Lillard finished with six points and went 2-for-12 from the field and added six turnovers. Lillard’s off game landed him in the record books as it marked the largest negative point differential (-33) between a player’s first and second games with a franchise in NBA history, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“We’re still learning each other,” Lillard said, according to ESPN’s Jamal Collier. “It’s a process of when I do have a start like this or have a game like this, how do I find it without holding onto the ball? Or in the past I would search sometimes, but I don’t have to, so it’s where do I find those moments and those opportunities to get myself going so I can be a positive out there?
“That’s part of the process. It’s just our second game. We haven’t played a bunch of games together. I think as we go, we’ll figure that out and get better at it.”
“I know how good he is,” Antetokounmpo, who scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, added when speaking with NBA journalists and media. “At the end of the day, we need him to keep shooting, we need him to keep on being great. Obviously we didn’t win the game, but he’s our guy now.
“It’s game two. It’s very, very early. We’re still figuring ourselves out. We’re figuring out what works. We’re figuring out what we are good at, what we are not good at.”
The Bucks now turn their attention to the Miami Heat, who eliminated the Bucks in five games during the first round of the playoffs last year. Miami was also considered to be the favorite to land Lillard via trade this offseason, a destination that Lillard was pushing for.
“I’ve never played on their team,” Lillard said. “I mentioned that it was the destination for me when I asked to be traded last year, but I was traded here. I was excited to be here. I’m happy to be here. I fit in great here. For me, personally that was the end of it. I never thought about it after that.
“I’m not going into it tomorrow like, ‘This is the team I was supposed to be playing for’ or none of that. I know Jimmy [Butler], I know Bam [Adebayo] — we cool. But I play for the Bucks.”
