Bucks’ Damian Lillard Admits Chemistry With Giannis Antetokounmpo Is ‘Getting Much Better’

After the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers yesterday (3/10), Damian Lillard admitted to NBA reporters that his chemistry with Giannis Antetokounmpo is “getting much better.”

Antetokounmpo and Lillard are the first pair of teammates in NBA history to have at least 20 points and 10 assists in back-to-back games.

“I think it’s getting much better,” Lillard said, via The Athletic. “To start the season, I think a lot of people wanted it to just click and happen right away. But I think anytime you put two guys together who’ve always been the decision maker, always had the ball in your hands for years and years and years, it’s going to take time for us to learn how to play with each other and learn how to play off of one another.

“And I think we’re just, first of all, having a lot more dialogue about what I need from him and he’s telling me what he needs for me. And I think our understanding is getting much better. And because of that, I’m able to get to certain spots and I’m using him against the defense and vice versa. When we get the kind of attention that we’ve been getting, where it’s a guy guarding me and his guy is being aggressive and then the help is pulling over to guard whichever one of us ends up with the ball, then the next guy is getting a clean shot.”

The Bucks are second in the NBA in points per game. Lillard and Antetokounmpo are averaging a combined 55.5 points per outing. 

Milwaukee is in second place in the Eastern Conference standings with a stellar record of 42-23. With Lillard and Antetokounmpo leading the way, the Bucks look like legitimate title contenders. 

“I think we are more patient,” Antetokounmpo said. “But again, we don’t just talk about it only, we practice it. Like there’s been a lot of practices that me and Dame and the whole team, we do five on (zero) and we go like five straight minutes, just me and Dame going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I have something and then I go right back to him. Now, organically, you can see it coming out in the game, and I’m happy about that.”