By The Numbers: Giannis Antetokounmpo's season-high 47-point explosion helps Bucks edge Lakers

Yash Matange

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By The Numbers: Giannis Antetokounmpo's season-high 47-point explosion helps Bucks edge Lakers image

A marquee matchup between the two previous NBA Champions headlined the 11-game slate on Wednesday night (ET).

While the Lakers battled, despite missing LeBron James, they simply had no answer for a masterful showcase from the reigning NBA Finals MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak went off, scoring a season-high 47 points with superhuman efficiency in the team's 109-102 victory. 

Here's a look at his shot chart:

Giannis shot chart

His performance allowed Khris Middleton to take his time in his first game back from COVID-19, which forced him to miss the previous eight games.

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It helped the Bucks overcome all-round performances from three players on the Lakers in Talen Horton-Tucker (25 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals), Anthony Davis (18 points, nine rebounds, four assists) and Russell Westbrook (19 points, 15 assists). 

Here's a look at a few impressive numbers from his explosion. 

28 - Antetokounmpo's first-half points

The Greek Freak did the majority of his damage early as part of his near-perfect first half. He erupted for 17 of his 28 first-half points in the first quarter on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and was overall responsible for 23 of the team's 30 first-quarter points.

By halftime, he remained near perfect. 

The 28 points are the second-most he has ever scored in the first half of a game in his career. At halftime, he (20) nearly had as many paint points in the paint as the Lakers team (22) as a whole.

1 - Player to record 45+ on 75%+ vs. Lakers since 1995

Antetokounmpo's performance makes him the first Lakers opponent to score at least 45 points on 75 percent shooting efficiency or better since 1995.

After his play over the past few seasons, which has warranted his Shaq-type comparisons, it comes as no surprise that O'Neal was the last guy to score 45 or more on shooting efficiency of 75 or better against the Lakers.

Overall, against any opponent, he became the fifth player in the last 20 seasons to score 45+ points on 75% shooting from the field and 75% shooting from deep. 

3 - Antetokounmpo's season-high 3-pointers

With this game, the reigning Finals MVP's 3-pointers tally for the season reaches 20 with 12 of those coming in just four games. He's now averaging a career-high in 3-pointers made at 1.43 per game. 

While that number isn't breaking past your screen, it's his shot selection which has been excellent early this season. Just take a look at how smooth his walk-in pull-up 3-pointers look

Over the past three games, he has as many 3-pointers (six) as Anthony Davis has made all season. 

8 - Career games with 47 or more

Playing his ninth season in the NBA, this is Antetokounmpo's eighth career game of scoring 47 or more, with all of them coming in the previous 32 months including the 50-piece in the close Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals. 

Of his six regular-season games of scoring 47 or more, he's recorded five of them against Western Conference teams in the Lakers, Jazz, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Suns. However, his career-high of 52 was against the Philadelphia 76ers on Mar. 17, 2019. 

Overall, Antetokounmpo holds a 5-3 record when he scores 47 or more.

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Yash Matange

Yash Matange Photo