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Just like that, Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns’ scheduled meetings with their 2021 NBA Finals foe are at an end. Following the Suns’ encouraging yet “frustrating” loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, if these two teams were to square off again, it’d be in a Finals rematch a few months down the road.
That’s far from guaranteed, but if they’re able to get fully healthy for the postseason, the Suns are the best bet to come out of the Western Conference. The East is littered with possible contenders, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending champs have as good a chance to emerge from the rubble as anyone. So to that end, and in the interest of being thorough, it’s time to talk about DA and the Greek Freak.
“As it relates to DA, I know he just wants to win the game,” coach Monty Williams said before the Suns’ latest tilt with the Bucks. “I don’t think he gets caught up in that matchup with Giannis, because Giannis doesn’t just score on one person, he scores on a lot of people. So you can’t really get caught up in that anymore with the switching that goes on in the NBA. I think he just wants to win the game.”
Williams is right: Defending a generational talent like Antetokounmpo takes a crowd. But much like Devin Booker and Matisse Thybulle’s entertaining duels, that doesn’t stop our fixation with this individual matchup either. To that end, our latest Bourguet Breakdown will take a look at how Ayton matches up with a two-time MVP, and how important it is for him to continue the success he found in their two regular-season games should they meet again in June.
Deandre Ayton learns early lessons against a Greek god
Last year — both in the regular season and the playoffs — Giannis absolutely dominated the Phoenix Suns. The Suns may have won their two regular-season meetings, but Antetokounmpo was unstoppable, averaging 40.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 60 percent shooting.
It was a precursor for what he’d do in the Finals, when he put up 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.8 blocks per game on 61.1 percent shooting en route to Finals MVP honors. The Suns felt like the better team two games in, but the Bucks had a Hulk.
Ayton drew the unenviable task of trying to slow down an NBA colossus, and despite what the overall numbers indicate, he actually fared pretty well. Learning how to defend a long, athletic, headstrong superstar didn’t happen overnight, and it came with plenty of lumps early on.
Defenders typically have to cede Antetokounmpo’s jump shot to keep him from getting to the restricted area, where he shot 80.7 percent last season and is shooting 76.3 percent this year. For another long, strong and athletic big with quick foot speed like Ayton, the biggest lesson was discovering how much space is too much to give up. Once Giannis got downhill, even Ayton’s quick-twitch body placement wasn’t enough to contest at the basket.
“Making sure he don’t get runway,” Ayton identified as the biggest key to containing Antetokounmpo. “You know he’s good with getting to the rim and attacking bigs, but just really treating him like a guard. I treat him like a guard. He’s not out here really shooting a 3-pointer like [Stephen] Curry, but he’s a threat to where he can create his own shot going to that rim. Just limiting the amount of steps he has to attack you, getting up under him a little bit like how you would do with guards trying to run ’em off the 3. Just show a crowd, make sure my guys are in help-side and shrink the court a little bit and just stay stationary.”
Despite the natrual inclination to play off Giannis and pack the paint, forcing him to shoot from the perimeter where he’s not very effective, giving him too much room allows him to get downhill.
Anyone who’s seen Giannis in transition knows how impossible it is to stop him without fouling once he gets a full head of steam. As the league leader in transition points over the last two years, the Suns learned time and time again how infallible a Greek Freak fast break is, with Game 5’s traumatizing alley-oop serving as future revenue for therapists throughout the Valley.
Adjusting with physicality
After taking his licks and realizing he was surrendering too much ground from the get-go, Ayton adjusted his approach, making it a point of emphasis to meet Antetokounmpo with more physicality whenever he started to drive.
“You gotta come out the gate doing that type of stuff,” Ayton said. “You can’t let Giannis set the tone of the game, because you will be in foul trouble. You just have to hit him first and just show the refs that I’m playing aggressive and showing your hands. You can’t be too worried about foul trouble. And just competing, I don’t really worry about fouls or talking to the refs about fouls, but I just know my task trying to stop him.”
Ayton adjusted in the Finals, and the on/off-court numbers were a testament to how well he defended Antetokounmpo…and how screwed the Suns were the minute he stepped off the court.
According to NBA.com’s matchups data, here are the numbers Giannis posted in six NBA Finals games:
- Against Deandre Ayton: 43 minutes, 214 partial possessions, 88 points on 34-67 FG (50.7%), 2-11 3P (18.2%), 18-23 FT, 12 assists, 4 turnovers, 12 shooting fouls, 226 team points
- Against everyone else: 53 minutes, 306 partial possessions, 142 points on 56-79 FG (70.9%), 0-3 3P (0%), 30-42 FT, 22 assists, 12 turnovers, 18 shooting fouls, 397 points
That stark contrast was a carryover from their two regular-season meetings last year as well:
- Against Deandre Ayton: 14 minutes, 77 partial possessions, 36 points on 12-27 FG (44.4%), 0-4 3P (0%), 12-12 FT, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 6 shooting fouls, 85 team points
- Against everyone else: 14 minutes, 87 partial possessions, 48 points on 18-20 FG (90%), 0-1 3P (0%), 12-16 FTs, 3 assists, 4 turnovers, 8 shooting fouls, 106 team points
To sum it up, anytime Ayton was out of the game or Giannis found himself matched up on literally anyone else, he had the ultimate green light. He scored far more points on a vastly superior shooting percentage, his team scored way more points in those instances, he routinely got to the free-throw line and he settled from 3-point range far less.
God bless Jae Crowder for his service, but with Dario Saric injured and no traditional, lengthy, athletic centers behind Ayton (no offense, Frank Kaminsky), Phoenix was butchered anytime Antetokounmpo hunted a mismatch.
Everyone else’s sheer disadvantage in physical stature made Ayton’s adjustment vital, and it paid dividends in both of Phoenix’s regular-season meetings with Milwaukee this season.
“It’s all about adjustment,” Ayton said after the Suns’ blowout win in February. “I wanted to see how the physicality was gonna be early. At the end of the day, I wanted to hit first. And that’s what I did. I already knew what our coverages was going to be from the get-go, so I had confidence in my guys that the shifts and the court would shrink a little bit on him.”
In the first meeting, a 131-107 blowout victory, the Suns held Antetokounmpo to 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting. And despite falling short on Sunday in a game where they were missing Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Cam Johnson, Phoenix once again held the Greek Freak in check, as he finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, with a -8 in a game his team won by 10 points.
Through two meetings, Antetokounmpo only averaged 18.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game on 48.1 percent shooting against Phoenix — terrific numbers for any normal NBA player, but a far cry from the unholy 29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game he’s put up this season. His field goal attempts dropped from 18.4 per game on the year to just 13.5 per game against Phoenix, his field-goal percentage and free-throw attempts were slightly down, and the Suns were actually a +26 in the 61 minutes he played.
Suns fans should know better than to read too far into regular-season results against Milwaukee by now, but Ayton’s defense on Antetokounmpo this year has only improved on the experience he had against the Greek Freak in the Finals. Here’s Giannis’ numbers against the Suns this year to prove it:
- Against Deandre Ayton: 8 minutes, 42 partial possessions, 12 points on 4-12 FG (33.3%), 0-4 3P (0%), 4-8 FT, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 4 shooting fouls, 47 team points
- Against everyone else: 17 minutes, 98 partial possessions, 37 points on 15-26 FG (57.7%), 0-0 3P (0%), 7-12 FT, 10 assists, 7 turnovers, 7 shooting fouls, 112 team points
“His shot-blocking, and then then you combine that length with that kind of athleticism, the footwork or the foot speed,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He’s unique as a big guy, and Giannis kind of sees everything, but certainly, Deandre Ayton’s somebody that he respects, we respect, and he’s a very good defender.”
The respect Giannis has for Ayton is very real, and it’s reflected in how often he settles for jumpers against him:
That’s a victory for Phoenix, especially since DA can get a good contest up and close out that space quicker than you’d expect:
Having JaVale McGee and Bismack Biyombo this time around will undoubtedly help should these two teams meet again in the playoffs — a luxury Ayton laments they didn’t have last time.
“Man, I wish this was last season,” Ayton said. “I needed it last season, but I’m glad we got it now. But yeah, this is the thing we’ve been trying to emphasize. Me being the only big last year, now I got pieces where if I get in foul trouble early or I’m just not having that game, I got dudes that could back me up.”
When Antetokounmpo sees anyone but Ayton in front of him, he’s going to the hole. But when DA is playing off, meeting him early in his dribble drives and absorbing the type of contact that 99.9 percent of NBA players cannot withstand, it suddenly becomes a lot more tempting to just pull up, especially when the Suns show a crowd.
The lingering problem
Unfortunately, there’s one drawback to playing a guy like Giannis Antetokounmpo so physically: He’s going to get to the foul line. It’s been a constant source of frustration for Monty Williams and the Suns over the last two years.
For their February meeting, Ayton was coming off a game against Joel Embiid, another behemoth who likes to get to the free-throw line, and DA held him to only six attempts. Before the Bucks game, Williams cited the number of free throws Antetokounmpo attempted in six Finals games — 85 — off the top of his head, calling it “historical.”
Antetokounmpo got to the line 14 times in that first contest, but the Suns were able to hold the rest of his offense in check and blow the game open in the second half. That’s easier said than done, because there are some instances where Antetokounmpo is simply too good to stop, even when he’s met with the perfect amount of physicality:
Williams believes avoiding fouls in the first quarter is key to keeping Giannis and the Bucks out of the bonus.
“We have to do a really good job of playing defense with our feet and walling up and not giving ground,” he said. “He’s really good at taking real estate, and once he’s around the basket, it’s pretty much a dunk on any team. So there’s a number of things you have to take care of with Giannis, and we’re all aware of them.”
On Sunday, the Suns limited Antetokounmpo to only six attempts, but the Bucks still out-shot Phoenix 29-11 from the charity stripe. Williams’ rant about the free-throw discrepancy afterward spoke to how flummoxing an issue it is in this matchup.
This may just sound like a coach bitterly griping about the officiating, but watching back the Finals, there were more than a handful of plays where Antetokounmpo got a generous whistle, particularly against Ayton:
Last year, Giannis got 14.2 free-throw attempts per game in the Finals after averaging 9.8 per game for the playoffs as a whole. In the regular season, it was 15.5 attempts per game in two meetings compared to his normal 9.5 attempts a night. The Suns fared slightly better in this respect in two meetings this season, holding him to 10.0 attempts per game. But it’s certainly one area to keep an eye on given the way Ayton’s foul trouble and free throws made a huge difference in last year’s championship series.
Another recurring issue
That’s not the only issue Antetokounmpo presents, of course. The Suns have struggled with giving up too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points all season, and over the last two years, Milwaukee has brought out the worst in Phoenix on both fronts.
Ayton’s recent rebounding woes haven’t helped matters, but even with Serge Ibaka filling minutes for the injured Brook Lopez, the Suns have struggled to secure team rebounds.
In their two Finals wins, the Suns were dead-even in the battle for second-chance points, 26-26. In the next four losses, they got crushed, 65-28. On Sunday, they gave up 14 offensive boards and 14 second-chance points. It’s been an even bigger issue for Phoenix since the All-Star break, but this team will inherently struggle in this regard given that Jae Crowder is their starting 4, and how often Ayton is pulled to the perimeter on switches.
It’s the unfortunate price to pay for a top-five defense that prides itself on positional versatility and wing depth.
“When you switch, sometimes you have a bigger guy on a smaller guy away from the basket,” Williams explained. “Right away, you’re giving up rebounding. But that’s the trade-off. You’re hoping that with the advent of the 3-ball, there’s a lot more longer rebounds that your guards can grab, as opposed to dealing with that big that’s at the rim on one of your smaller guys.”
Unfortunately, the Bucks are one team that’s well-positioned to hit tough shots between Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, and they can still snag the rebound for easy points or extra possessions when those guys actually do miss. Antetokounmpo has been a monster on the glass against Phoenix, regularly punishing mismatches in the paint.
It takes a great deal of strength for Ayton to absorb the kind of contact Antetokounmpo dishes out on his drives and remain in the play, but when it happens, and even when he’s out on the perimeter, he has to find that extra gear to get back in the play, put a body on Giannis and secure the stop with a defensive board.
Preparing for what may lie ahead for Deandre Ayton
Having more size behind Ayton in Biyombo and McGee certainly helps. The Suns have shown a willingness to lean more toward Biyombo in guarding Antetokounmpo when Ayton needs a breather, mostly because of his mobility and strength while still having the length to make life challenging for Giannis.
“We just felt like Biz was a better matchup against Giannis because of his ability to put the ball down against a bigger guy, and that gave us a chance to spell DA for a little bit,” Williams said after the February matchup. “Great players, if you give ’em the same look the whole game, they’re going to kill you. And so we had to change it up — change up bodies, change up defenses.”
On Sunday, Phoenix again threw different looks at the reigning Finals MVP, including dual-big lineups and then fronting him with wings while having Ayton rotate over to help trap:
The challenge of defending Giannis Antetokounmpo clearly extends beyond just Deandre Ayton, but Williams and the Suns welcomed that task. At the All-Star break, the Suns coach told the Greek Freak that he helped make Phoenix better after such a hard-fought Finals series.
“I think in any sport, when you lose like that, you have to really be honest with yourself as to why,” Williams said. “If you were a boxer and you got clipped with a right cross, you’re going to keep your left up and you’re gonna learn how to build that stamina to keep your left up, right? So those are things that anytime you fail in that particular platform, you just look at stuff that can make you better.”
Much like his coach, Ayton embraces the elite level of competition that Antetokounmpo provides.
“You know me, I love competing,” Ayton said. “If they the best, I want to be in front of them and I’m gonna test it out. Just my team in general giving me the confidence to guard these dudes, man….You’re just going out there knowing that you have people that you could trust, especially when there’s superheroes you gotta guard.”
In two meetings with the Bucks so far this season, Ayton has won the individual battle, putting up 28.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on 26-of-33 shooting (78.8 percent), all while containing one of the NBA’s most dominant offensive forces.
His season-high 30 points on Sunday even drew praise from Giannis himself:
Whether we see this individual clash of titans again remains to be seen, but if we do, it’ll be even more tantalizing than last year. Only this time around, it might not be as one-sided.
“From day one ’til now, it’s not a totally different player, just an improved player, but he’s put the work in,” Williams said. “He still has a ways to go, he would admit that. We just like where he’s headed, and that’s a weapon for us when we don’t have to rely on Chris and Book.”
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