Alright! I played an under last night and as usual it was very unpleasant to watch; back to having some fun. I’m backing arguably the most physically dominant player in the league tonight — Giannis Antetokunmpo. While it doesn’t take a genius to back the Greek Freak, I will provide plenty of reasons why I chose him.
On the surface, I like the trends we're seeing. Giannis has hit this in 6 of his last 10 games averaging 31.9 points in that span. He has hit in 6 of his last 10 home games. In games where the Bucks have won by 10 or more points, he has hit in 5 of 10, which is important for tonight’s game with the spread at -9.5.
We should touch on the return of Jrue Holiday. This will be his second game back after a 6 game absence. He came off the bench last game and I would anticipate he reenters the starting lineup tonight. I do not think that will affect Greek Freak's output tonight. Giannis' last 6 games playing with Jrue he scored: 33, 31, 35, 33, 28, 36. Throughout the season, Middleton seems to be the one most affected statistically by Holiday’s presence in the lineup. Greek remains a steady threat no matter who takes the court with him.
Finally, the Bulls are a terrific matchup for Giannis. The Bulls allow the second most PPG to PF; when we narrow that down to the last 30 days, they allow the most PPG to PF. The Bulls are one of the best teams at guarding the arc but the trade off is they get slaughtered in the paint. Of course, that just so happens to be where Giannis does most of his work. CHI allows the 9th most points in the paint per game, and the 3rd most over the last 3 games.
