When Chen Xi began taking charge of everything on offense, controlling the ball through repeated individual attacks and orchestrating plays, Paul George's job was to keep pressuring Giannis with help defense and occasionally take the primary assignment on Lillard, putting just as much defensive pressure on the opponent's strongest perimeter ball handler.
George's immense value was on full display at both ends of the floor that night.
That was something Kyrie Irving simply could not provide, and it was one of the reasons the New York Knicks had ultimately chosen George.
Versatile two-way stars, especially wings whose size rarely put them at a disadvantage, really were more coveted.
That was particularly true for a team like New York, which had its sights set on an NBA championship.
In fact, if George had been a little younger, a team could easily have developed him as its undisputed core.
Just like The Greek Freak on the other side.
Speaking of Giannis...
Giannis Antetokounmpo had actually played quite well that night.
In 36 minutes, he had finished with 35 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.
He had also committed 3 turnovers, but those hardly overshadowed his performance.
Putting up numbers like that against the combined efforts of Chen Xi, George, Horford, Adams, Hartenstein, and several others absolutely qualified as a top-tier superstar performance.
Against that same level of defensive pressure, even Chen might not have managed a particularly explosive performance. Giannis had already done very well.
Bucks fans could genuinely declare that night that the Bucks had lost, but Giannis had not.
Because Giannis truly had left everything on the floor...
In contrast, the team's other centerpiece, Damian Lillard, had been somewhat off his game that night.
Lillard had finished with 22 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1