Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard Show Signs of Things to Come

For the first time, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard took the floor together, each wearing a Bucks uniform. The game didn’t count, as the Bucks’ road win over the Lakers was merely a preseason affair.

But Lillard and Antetokounmpo got to face another team, and by all accounts, were pleased with the results.

“We come out first play the game, first couple plays, and they blitz me,” Lillard told reporters. “You know, they trap me — and the guy that I’m releasing the ball to is Giannis. So I’m just like, ‘We can do this all night.'”

Antetokounmpo will remain the face of the Bucks, but if Lillard is a sidekick, he’s the best sidekick in the NBA.

“I’ve never been this much open the last five to seven years …” Antetokounmpo said. “Yeah, I’ve never been this open and I’ve never seen anybody been double-teamed from the first possession of the game.”

Trying to make this all work is new Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin, who said he really just wants his stars to be themselves.

“I don’t know if they need to sacrifice, I think they just need to be who they are,” Griffin said. “I had a conversation with Giannis earlier in the season, and I told him you don’t have to be anything else than Giannis and Dame doesn’t have to be anything else than Dame.”

Even Lakers coach Darvin Ham was left impressed.

“Man, that’s a hell of a combo, having that one-two punch,” he said. “Dame with the ball and Giannis as the screener, or even Dame as the screener Giannis with the ball, it’s not gonna be any fun for anybody (to defend).”