The Milwaukee Bucks have won nine of their last ten games and 16 of their last nineteen propelling themselves to the top of the heap in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. With a 29-19-3 ATS record, the Bucks are one of the most profitable teams to bet on and their +9.9 point differential is by far the best in the league. Getting wins in the NBA is a team effort, but individual success also plays a role and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s play has been a factor. He might not be the frontrunner for the league’s MVP but he certainly stands out as an impact player.
The question before us today is whether Giannis can post a triple-double when the Bucks host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at some of his stats and find the answer. The first thing that bettors will notice is that Antetokounmpo doesn’t produce a lot of triple-doubles. In 48 outings this year, Giannis has reached double digits in scoring in all but one game, so we can easily assume that he won’t have any trouble reaching that mark on Wednesday. However, it gets a lot dicier after that. He has only reached double digits in assists six times. Most recently, he dished out 11 assists on January 29th in Detroit. He actually put up half of his double-digit assist performances in January.
Next, we see that he is definitely a threat in the rebounding department. His average of 12.5 rebounds per game is proof of that. He recorded a season-high 21 rebounds against Houston just three weeks ago and has reached double-digit rebounds in eight of his last ten games. So, how many times has he been able to reach double digits in all three areas in a game this year? The answer is a paltry four times. This doesn’t bode well at all for those who want to back him on this prop bet. Looking at his last game against Washington which occurred this past Saturday, Antetokounmpo notched 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Unfortunately, the 6’ 11” point guard managed just two assists.
The biggest question boils down to this: Can he rack up 10 assists? It’s almost certain he’ll score enough and there is a very good chance he will bring down enough rebounds, but the third component, assists, is what will make or break this bet. Believe it or not, Antetokounmpo has never recorded double-digit assists against the Wizards. This isn’t to say that he has no chance to do so on Wednesday. It’s just that it will be a true long shot. Those who would be inclined to say he will, can point to the fact that he has been reaching double-digit assists a little more frequently since the start of the new year but we are still talking about just three times in his last 15 games. Also, of those three games that he did rack up 10 or more assists, he achieved the triple-double in only one of those games.
My Pick: No. Giannis Antetokounmpo will not record a triple-double against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
