Denver fans certainly enjoyed seeing their team hold on for a tough win over Giannis and the Bucks on Sunday night, despite Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and several other rotation players being absent. But it was hard to watch Giannis battle furiously, doing everything he could to drag his team to victory, only for his supporting cast to let him down, and not think of the parallels to recent Nuggets teams.
For years, one of the biggest talking points around the team has been the non-Jokic minutes and finding ways to stay competitive while the three-time MVP is on the bench or not suiting up. Those games, and even brief stretches, have killed the Nuggets thanks to a lack of credible depth, and the front office finally went out and fixed the problem in the offseason.
For the Bucks and Giannis, it feels like they are now in that uncomfortable phase where the team is Antetokounmpo, and then everyone else. It was on full display on Sunday night as the Bucks came into town at full strength (only Taurean Prince was out with an injury) and lost to an extremely shorthanded Nuggets team.
Giannis did his part, putting up 31 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. The Bucks won the minutes that Antetokounmpo was on the floor by 16 points. Unfortunately for them, the Greek Freak can’t play all 48 minutes every night, and in the 15 minutes that he sat, Denver outscored Milwaukee by 20 points, getting the 108-104 win.
Nuggets and Bucks going in opposite directions
For the Nuggets, it’s a familiar sight, but one that it appears their team has moved past. The bench and the role players have been excellent this year, stepping up despite a number of injuries, including to the best player in the sport. Yet, they’ve survived and hold a 26-13 record, good for third place in a loaded Western Conference.
For the Bucks, it’s been a very different story, and they may be out of options. Since winning the title in 2021, they’ve tried desperately time and again to reconfigure the roster around Giannis, sending out Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Damian Lillard, and others, but none of it has worked.
They’ve turned over just about every asset available, and now they’re left with a team that’s clearly nowhere close to title contention and a generational superstar in his prime who’s growing more frustrated by the day. With each loss, it feels like we are one day closer to the end of Antetokounmpo’s run in Milwaukee, and it doesn’t seem like there’s anything that anyone can do about it at this point.
We are likely heading for a sad breakup between a franchise and its most iconic player, but it’s another great reminder for Nuggets fans to be grateful to have a star like Jokic, who has been patient and understanding through some rough years, never pressured his front office to overreact, and now appears poised to be part of a contention window that should last for the rest of his prime years.