One of the big stories after Game 1 was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s struggles from the free-throw line. He missed eight free throws in the game. Giannis only got to the line 12 times for the entire game. A developing trend in these NBA Playoffs that should give Bucks’ fans a little pause is that Giannis is not getting to the free throw line enough. Despite his poor shooting from the stripe, Giannis is not getting to the charity line. Is that due to the officiating? Or the inability for Giannis to draw contact with defenders as most teams are trying to wall off Giannis from the paint?

Looking at last year’s playoffs, Giannis got to the line fairly often in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Antetokounmpo had multiple games where he found himself at the line 20+ times. That is not happening in these playoffs. Through six games, Antetokounmpo’s free-throw attempt high is 12. The Toronto wall could be the reason for this. If you look at last year, Giannis averaged 12 free throw attempts per game before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It went down to nine in the final four games of the season.

Let’s look at this year so far. Giannis is averaging 8.66 free throw attempts per game. This plays into the idea that the defensive wall is leading to less free throws for Giannis. Some might argue that’s a good thing considering Antetokounmpo being average to below average from the free-throw line. I would argue against that. Giannis seems to be better when he gets to the line more. It helps him develop more of a rhythm.

The other argument to make why Giannis is not getting to the line is there is a guy in Bam Adebayo who can actually guard Giannis. He isn’t a Giannis stopper like the national media tells you, but he is physical enough to play with Giannis and not get called for fouls. When Bucks play Boston or Detroit last season, they did not have a player like Bam. Toronto does as well with their multiple options like Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, and Pascal Siakam. Maybe it’s all about who is on the other end when it comes to Giannis at the line.

Here’s to a better night at the line in Game 2.