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Eric WoodyardESPN
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks star, certainly didn’t enjoy suffering a 129-115 road loss to the Utah Jazz at the Vivint Arena on Friday night, but he couldn’t help but admire how “simple” the game seemed to them.
More importantly, Jazz has earned its respect: Antetokounmpo said they are “the best team in the West.”
Antetokounmpo, the current NBA MVP, finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, after being held to two points in the first half – the lowest in any half this season.
And after watching Jazz have four 25-point markers for the first time in franchise history, Antetokounmpo felt a personal connection to what was happening before his eyes.
“It just looks fun. It’s like watching them play, it looks fun, it looks easy,” Antetokounmpo said. “It looks simple. It’s definitely like us last year and man, when you’re in that moment and playing with that confidence, it’s definitely hard to beat.”
Like last season’s Bucks, the Jazz (21-5) have the best record in the NBA. They have won 17 of the last 18 games, with the first victory of that stretch coming against the Bucks on January 8.
Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles had 27 points each, and Donovan Mitchell added 26 points with eight assists and six rebounds. Jordan Clarkson earned 25 points from the bench.
Ingles said it would take a minute to celebrate the victory, but after that he would return to business.
“I don’t think we’re that happy yet,” said Ingles, who went 4-for-4 in the 3-point range.
That’s because their goals are much higher than the regular season, especially after last season, when they threw a 3-1 advantage at Denver and were eliminated in the first round.
“We don’t want to be the best team in February; we want to be the best team in July,” Mitchell said.
Being respected in the lead role is something new for Mitchell and his teammates. As leaders in Utah, Mitchell and Gobert’s path to becoming NBA All-Stars was not always written in stone and they developed a subdog mentality that led to the team.
“It’s different in my four years. You look at us all and at each individual story … [we were] undervalued, “Mitchell said.” I think now we are at a time when people are coming to us and the way we have responded to that is very impressive. I think we can do a lot more to keep improving, but it doesn’t hurt to be in the moment and understand that what we’re doing is pretty cool. “
The road doesn’t get much easier for the Utah, with the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and back-to-back games against the LA Clippers following. Then there’s Charlotte on Feb. 22, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 24 and the Heat on Feb. 26.
Although he may not focus on the regular season, Jazz knows he can’t get around it.
However, jazz coach Quin Snyder said: “Nobody beats their chest about everything I did.
“Honestly, you never want to do that and it’s never appropriate unless you’re the last team standing,” Snyder said. “It’s something we will continue to try to avoid.”