NBA MVP Stifled In 1st Half Against Jazz
Nov 8, 2019, 8:38 PM | Updated: 8:41 pm
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – How do you stop one of the most unstoppable players? In the case of the Utah Jazz, you send as many players at Giannis Antetokounmpo as possible and boy did it work against last season’s NBA MVP as the Jazz led 55-35 at the half.
Giannis had 2 points at the break and did not make one field goal. He finished the half was 0-7 from the field and 2-4 from the free-throw line.
Every time Giannis drove to the basket, another one to two Jazz-men were standing in the lane to make sure he didn’t get anywhere close to the basket. The Greek Freak didn’t want to force the issue and continued to pass to his teammates in the first quarter. He missed his lone field goal attempt in the 1st quarter but ended up with 3 assists.
In the 2nd quarter, Giannis started forcing the issue by driving to the basket before Utah would get the defense set. That led to his lone points of the game after he was fouled. He finally tried getting on track late in the quarter, but didn’t have any luck. He missed a hook shot over Rudy Gobert, left a finger roll and a lefty layup short, and of course, he was also swatted by the two-time Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert.
DPOY#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/q7J5PreFiM
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 9, 2019
It wasn’t all bad for the Giannis.
GIANNIS MET SPIDA AT THE RIM 🕷🤚🏾pic.twitter.com/O6uBYbjSdT
— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) November 9, 2019