A duel of Eastern Conference All-Stars: Kemba vs Giannis

CHARLOTTE, USA – Will this be the year that Giannis Antetokounmpo finally makes waves in the East? It’s one of the questions raised in the NBA Eastern Conference season previews as the Milwaukee Bucks star has been the favorite top player since LeBron James left for the Western Conference and the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Then there’s also Kemba Walker, the Charlotte Hornets guard who was also the topic of discussion in the offseason as possible trade options for teams who wanted to fortify their lineups by adding a star playmaker.

Here’s what Rappler saw from the opening night game at Charlotte where the Bucks narrowly beat the Hornets, 113-112, on Wednesday night, October 17 (Thursday, October 18, Manila time).

Starting strong

The Bucks got off to a hot start in the first quarter scoring from the three-point arc early on. They went 7-of-11 or an astoundingly 64% shooting that had them scoring 36 points in the initial canto. They were up by as many as 20 points 

Equal opportunity

Balanced scoring was a hallmark of Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer’s stint from his early Atlanta Hawks stint where he got contributions from his players like Al Horford and Paul Millsap. The first half was a good start for the Bucks with 7 players scoring 8 points or more.

It bodes well for Antetokounmpo as he won’t have to carry the burden of scoring and doing everything else on the court. This was evident when Budenholzer had to sit the “Greek Freak”  early in the 3rd quarter when he picked up his fourth personal and his fifth personal midway in the 4th quarter. 

Lineup experimentation

Hornets coach James Borrego made some good adjustments in the second half. He struggled to find the right lineup to go against the tall and lanky Bucks players who were shooting from the outside and getting scoring opportunities in the lane. Rim-defense and rebounding was sorely lacking with the Hornets getting outrebounded 17 to the Bucks’ 34. 

In the preseason games, Tony Parker and Malik Monk combined to play off the bench. Borrego however toyed with adding Kemba Walker with them to form a three-guard attack which created better scoring efficiency in the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter when the Hornets made a run, Nic Batum was even surprised to see himself play at the center spot and get this amazing block that leads to a Malik Monk jam.

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@nicbatum88’s block sets up the @ahmad_monk SLAM!

A post shared by NBA (@nba) on Oct 17, 2018 at 6:03pm PDT

Cardiac Kemba

In the pre-game, Budenholzer knew very well of what the Hornets point guard was capable of doing: “Kemba has been such a force as you know. He’s the point of attack. He carries so much force and so competitive and can will his team to special places with his shot making and the different moves he has.” 

And Kemba willed his team to catch up from 20 points down against the Bucks, scoring a game-high 41 points, including going 7-of-13 from the three-point line as well as making drives to the basket. He could have also won the game for his team in the dying seconds where he drove to the basket but two Bucks defenders swooped down to cover his angles. – Rappler.com