Wednesday NBA Takeaways: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks Show Their True Ceiling

This is a weird NBA season.

The turnaround between campaigns was shorter than usual. Players are essentially quarantined on road trips. They're required to wear masks on the bench. And the Milwaukee Bucks aren't running away with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

We got a glimpse of some normalcy Wednesday, though, when the Bucks annihilated the Indiana Pacers, 130-110. The game was so far out of hand in the fourth quarter that two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was able to play photographer.

Much had been made of Milwaukee's slower-than-expected start. The defense, in particular, hasn't been up to the standard to which we've grown accustomed since head coach Mike Budenholzer's arrival.

The underachieving never felt like it would stick around all season, though. With nearly half the rotation turned over in the offseason, we probably should've expected more of an adjustment period, especially for the bench.

As those new additions like Bobby Portis, D.J. Augustin and Torrey Craig become better acquainted with their roles and this scheme, results like Wednesday's are likely to become more common.

Giannis embracing his size seems to be helping, too. He's operating more as a screener this season, and he's even starting to turn down threes. As Locked on Bucks' Kane Pittman pointed out after the game, this was the first time since March 2018 that Giannis has gone back-to-back games without taking a triple. 

With the new shooters off the bench, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez in place, Giannis can embrace his inner Shaquille O'Neal a bit more.

Luka Doncic and Trae Young were the marquee names, but the biggest story of the Dallas Mavericks' 122-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday may have been the arrival of the former's supporting cast.

Dallas was in the midst of a six-game losing streak. After finishing 2019-20 first in threes per 100 possessions and 10th in three-point percentage, it entered Wednesday 20th and dead last in those two respective categories this season.

"Terrible. There's really not much to say," Doncic said after a Jan. 29 loss to the Utah Jazz. "... Right now, it's looking like we don't care, honestly, if we win games or not."

Against Young and the Hawks, the Mavericks clearly cared. They were moving off the ball. Everyone was passing. There was less standing around while Luka dribbled up top. Josh Richardson and Dorian Finney-Smith were flying around on defense.

And with the increased level of engagement from his teammates, Luka was able to rack up 14 assists to go along with 27 points and eight boards. It was his ninth double-digit-assist game of the season, and the Mavs are 6-3 in those outings. They're 3-10 in the other 13 contests.

It may seem overly reductive, but Dallas goes as Luka's teammates go. 

Doncic is tied with Joel Embiid for second in the league in box plus/minus (behind Nikola Jokic). James Johnson and Maxi Kleber were the only other rotation players who were even above-average heading into Wednesday's action, per BPM.

Knocking down shots will help (Dallas still shot just 32.5 percent from three Wednesday), but there are other ways to impact winning, and the supporting cast found them against the Hawks.

The Miami Heat were undoubtedly one of the NBA's best stories coming out of the Orlando bubble. Their unexpected run to the NBA Finals ended in defeat, but bringing back most of that group made them feel like a lock for another playoff berth.

With Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic still leading the way and Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson presumably in line for more development, home-court advantage even felt like a fairly safe bet.

About a month and a half into the season, though, Miami is 7-14. The latest loss came at home to the now 5-13 Washington Wizards. Even with Butler and Andre Iguodala playing, Bradley Beal was able to drop 32 points.

The easiest excuse is Butler's 12-game absence. That obviously hurt, but the Heat are still under .500 when he's played. Something else must be going on under the hood.

Last season, the Heat were dominant when Butler and Robinson shared the floor. They're still comfortably positive in 2020-21, which suggests things begin to fall apart when the bench starts trickling into the game.

Getting meaningful contributions from reserves and under-the-radar prospects has typically been a strength of Erik Spoelstra's Heat teams, but that's just not happening right now. According to BPM, Kendrick Nunn, Maurice Harkless, Herro and Avery Bradley have all performed worse than replacement-level players. KZ Okpala and Gabe Vincent are way below that level.

If Miami is going to turn this around and force its way back into the playoff picture, one or two of those players must provide more. Nunn and Herro, both of whom were incredibly important to last year's success, are the most obvious candidates, especially since the team is dying for some playmaking.

The San Antonio Spurs were down 11 entering the fourth quarter of Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. To that point, DeMar DeRozan had a solid 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

In the final frame, though, he asserted himself as the best player on the floor, dropping 16 points on nine shots, taking his plus-minus from minus-eight to plus-six and leading the Spurs to a 111-108 victory. His cock-back dunk about halfway through the period signified the momentum shift about as well as any individual possession could.

The big performance from DeRozan may fly under the radar. The Spurs don't garner the same level of attention they did when they were winning titles. But his 2020-21 campaign deserves a spotlight.

He's posting career highs in BPM and assist percentage, and he's letting the game come to him in a way he didn't prior to his arrival in San Antonio. The Spurs have been significantly better with him off the floor, but that likely has more to do with a stellar bench than his shortcomings.

San Antonio's deep and well-rounded attack has it on track (at least for now) for a somewhat unexpected return to the postseason, and it's tough to imagine that happening without its leading scorer.

After an injury-shortened rookie campaign that featured a four-three debut and plenty of jaw-dropping dunks, Zion Williamson finding superstar status and production in his second season almost felt inevitable.

Much of his 2020-21 has felt stagnant, though. Prior to Wednesday, he had made just three triples in 18 games. His averages for points, assists and free-throw attempts per 100 possessions were all slightly down. His BPM and true shooting percentage were both about the same as the marks he posted in 2019-20.

Most striking, perhaps, was the fact that his team was just 7-12.

The breakout wasn't happening with the same thunder that accompanies Zion's jams, but subtle improvements have surfaced of late. And Wednesday, his impact was obvious in a 123-101 blowout win over Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns.

Zion went off for 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting. He hit a three and was a staggering plus-37 in 32 minutes. His off-ball movement was on point all game. He looked more engaged on the defensive end. Maybe most importantly, he was willing to make the extra pass when lanes to the rim closed down.

Less than a week after he handed out a career-high seven dimes in a win against the Bucks on Friday, he dished out six more against Phoenix. These performances certainly don't signal the arrival of the next Nikola Jokic, but a little extra passing from Williamson could make the already-dynamic finisher far less predictable.

If teams know Zion won't kick out of drives or cuts to the rim, collapsing on those catches is easier. As he continues to show a willingness to move the ball, he should see more single coverage in the lane, and there may not be a single player in the league who can consistently bother him in those situations.

The Los Angeles Clippers cruised past the Cleveland Cavaliers, 121-99, on Wednesday. The result wasn't surprising. Cleveland has been peskier than anticipated this season, but the Clippers are bona fide title contenders.

What's especially noteworthy about this game, though, is the way Paul George lit the Cavs up from the outside. After going 8-of-9 from deep and scoring 36 points, his numbers this season are up to 24.4 points per game with a 47.8 three-point percentage.

No, you don't need much context to know those numbers are ridiculous. But here's a little bit anyway: Among the 83 seasons in which a player has attempted at least 7.5 threes per game, George's 47.8 percent connection rate would rank first all-time, over two percentage points better than Stephen Curry's historic 2015-16 campaign.

And it's not just George torching the nets for L.A.

On Wednesday, the entire team shot 58.8 percent from deep, raising its season-long mark to a league-best 42.3 percent. The team record for a single season is the Charlotte Hornets' 42.8 percent in 1996-97, back when the league was still experimenting with a shortened three-point line.

George and the Clippers are bound to cool off at some point, but they've shown more than enough to suggest they can shoot their way out of trouble this postseason.

All stats, unless otherwise indicated, courtesy of Basketball Reference, NBA.com and Cleaning the Glass.