Giannis Antetokounmpo insisted he is at his best when he is aggressive after the Milwaukee Bucks superstar posted 47 points in Wednesday's win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Antetokounmpo was unstoppable in Milwaukee midweek, erupting for a season high as NBA champions the Bucks took down the LeBron James-less Lakers 109-102.
The reigning NBA Finals MVP became the fifth player in the last 20 seasons to score 45-plus points on 75 per cent shooting from the field and 75 per cent shooting from three-point range.
Antetokounmpo is the first player to post at least 45 points on 75-plus per cent field-goal percentage against the Lakers since Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal in 1995.
"I feel like the past games I wasn't as aggressive as I want to be, wasn't initiating the contact, wasn't getting into the pain as much," Antetokounmpo told reporters post-game.
"At the end of the day, you try to develop your weaknesses and forget your strengths. Had two days in between, talk to the coaches, watch a lot of tape. I want to be aggressive, initiate the contact and get into the pain. Play with an edge.
"At the end of the day, I just let my instincts take over…"
Antetokounmpo added: "There's been so much I've been asked to do – lead, be vocal, pass the ball, rebound the ball, score the ball. I just try to compete. Moving forward, I just want to be aggressive. I'm my best when I'm aggressive."
All-Star team-mate Khris Middleton returned after an eight-game absence due to COVID-19 and tied Milwaukee's franchise record for career three-pointers.
Middleton – who finished with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds – matched Ray Allen for first place with his 1,051st career three.
"Feels good to have him back. We've missed him. Just having him out there, he draws a lot of attention. People have to guard him," said Antetokounmpo of Middleton.
"As much as I was complaining in the past, just an inside joke with him about seeing him too much, we have to get some space... I kind of missed him. Having him out there helped the team. He made great plays down the stretch."
It has been a topsy-turvy start to the season for the Bucks (7-8) in their title defence due to injuries and COVID-related absences – Milwaukee are 11th in the Eastern Conference.
"We have to start winning games. It's not the most important thing," Antetokounmpo continued. "The most important thing to get better and build good habits. Play good basketball down the stretch in May and June but at the end of the day, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you keep losing.
"We have to start putting teams away. When we're up 15, we can't step back, we have to attack and keep playing with that edge. Don't be satisfied. With Khris back, it's a good opportunity to get back on track. We're in a good place right now."
Sheffield United v Burnley: Kompany wants fearless approach
Vincent Kompany knows his team need to take more risks as Burnley prepare for another huge game in the fight for Premier League safety when they face fellow strugglers Sheffield United.
Burnley dropped two points in a 1-1 draw with Brighton at Turf Moor last weekend, as Arijanet Muric's own goal denied them a win that would have inched them closer to safety.
While Luton Town and Everton both suffered defeats, Nottingham Forest's draw means that Burnley sit six points from safety, though they are four points better off than the Blades ahead of Saturday's game.
Asked about the approach his side will take against another team in the relegation zone, Kompany said: "Sheffield is another different game for us, it has a bit of a cup final feeling to it as well. We know we have to go there, attack the game, and show no fear.
"Going there on Saturday, we have nothing to lose. We approach it with no fear, we have to show our strengths and go there to play our hearts out and run our socks off. We're playing to be in the Premier League and that's our goal."
United head into Saturday's match with their survival hopes having been further diminished by a 2-0 defeat to Brentford.
After failing to win any of their last eight games, Chris Wilder explained how his side has struggled to cope with the demands of the Premier League.
"Like us, they've [Burnley] found results difficult to come by, and they've taken the beatings when they've had to – as have we," Wilder said.
"They've picked up points recently. We’ve not picked up enough points that I believe our performances have deserved. We need to marry up decent performances with a big result. That's what we’re there to try and get.
"Both teams are after three points, I think we all realise where we are with that. We're in it to win it, and so will they be."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sheffield United – Oli McBurnie
McBurnie has been involved in eight goals in his last eight Premier League home games, scoring six and assisting twice. The only game in this run in which he has not registered a goal or assist was in the Blades' 6-0 defeat to Arsenal last month.
Burnley – Josh Brownhill
Brownhill has been directly involved in two goals in his last three Premier League appearances (one goal, one assist), as many as he managed in his 16 before that, with his goal last week opening the scoring.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
United have lost just one of their last 20 home league games against Burnley (W14 D5), going down 3-2 in December 2008. They have won both of their Premier League games against the Clarets at Bramall Lane.
However, only one of the five Premier League games between two newly promoted teams this season have been won by the home team (D1 L3), though that occurred in the reverse fixture between Burnley and United back in December (5-0).
Since a 1-0 win against Brentford, the Blades are winless in seven home league games (D3 L4), conceding at least twice in each match. Only twice has a team conceded 2+ goals in eight consecutive Premier League home games – Wolves in 2011-12 (11) and Norwich in 2019 (nine).
United have also conceded 84 goals in their 32 Premier League games this season; it is the most at this stage ever in a Premier League campaign, and the most the Blades have conceded overall in a league campaign since 1954-55 (86 in 42 games).
Burnley, meanwhile, have dropped 24 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, with only Brentford (30) losing more.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Sheffield United – 31.4%
Burnley – 38.8%
Draw – 29.8%
James not looking to past results ahead of Lakers-Nuggets rematch
LeBron James believes the media are putting "too much emphasis" on the Los Angeles Lakers' recent history with the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers, after their win over the New Orleans Pelicans, will take on the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
Los Angeles lost to Denver in the 2023 Western Conference Finals, as the Nuggets went on to win the NBA championship.
The Lakers, meanwhile, defeated the Nuggets en route to winning the championship in 2020.
James, though, is not looking back at past results as an indicator of how this series might play out.
"I think you're putting a little bit too much emphasis on it," James said.
"This is our first-round matchup. I mean, we're looking forward to the postseason. But I haven't been, like, looking forward to the rematch.
"The game is played how it's being played, and this is the matchup. So we're looking forward to that challenge.
"It shouldn't be personal at all. I think you allow yourself to get away from the game plan when you make it too personal.
"We have a game plan. You go out there and execute it and you live with the results. I'm kind of the last person you should [ask that], I just stay even-keeled.
"I've been in the postseason way too long in my career to know that you don't get too high off of Game 1 or get too high over whoever the matchup is. You got to just stay even-keeled."
Lakers coach Darvin Ham did say his team can take lessons from last year's defeat, in particular when focusing on cutting out small errors.
And James echoed the sentiment.
"We just got to be better all around," he said. "Obviously, it's a great team that we're playing against. A team that won the championship, so they've been in a lot of big games and know what they want to get to late in games.
"So we just have to be very disciplined and have our mind into throughout the course of 48 minutes or however long it takes.
"It's going to be challenging but that's what the postseason is all about. It should be."
'Sky's the limit' for Coby White as Bulls tee up Miami rematch
Dejounte Murray declared "the sky's the limit" for Coby White after his career-best performance guided the Chicago Bulls past the Atlanta Hawks in the Play-In Tournament on Wednesday.
The Bulls clinched a 131-116 win over Atlanta at a sold-out United Center in their first Play-In game, teeing up a rematch with the Miami Heat – who eliminated them from last year's Play-In Tournament – for Friday.
White had a career-high 42 points, the second-best tally ever recorded in a Play-In contest, after Jayson Tatum's 50 against the Washington Wizards in 2021, and went 15-of-21 from the field.
His stunning performance meant Murray's own 30-point showing counted for nothing, with Atlanta always fighting an uphill battle after going 18 points down in the first quarter.
Asked about White after the game, Murray said: "I root for guys that work hard and are great people.
"[Bulls forward] DeMar DeRozan's a brother to me and he speaks highly of him. He says he works hard, he's a great guy, he's handled his business, he's a professional on and off the floor.
"When I hear those things, I root for guys around the league just to have success.
"I think he's always been good. He never really got the opportunity to showcase what he's showcasing now, and the sky's the limit."
It was something of a breakout performance for White, who averaged just 8.4 points per game in his only previous playoff series, a 4-1 first-round defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022.
He was also part of the Chicago team beaten by the Heat in last year's Play-In Tournament, and they will get a chance to avenge that loss when they go to Kaseya Center on Friday.
"I'm just grateful to be where I'm at. That first playoff series I ever had in my career didn't go how I wanted it to go," White said.
"Then last year, I played better in the Play-In, but this year, I didn't come into the game saying I was going to put the team on my back.
"I just wanted to be aggressive and take what the defense gave me and try to lead."
DeRozan is glad to have the opportunity to banish the ghosts of last year's loss in Miami, saying: "I remember that plane ride back home vividly, everybody was just frustrated.
"That feeling sucked. I know for me that was one thing that was on my mind once I realised we were going back to Miami, not to have that same feeling."
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