In the wake of a frustrating 131-113 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s behavior has come under scrutiny. The Milwaukee Bucks superstar had an angry outburst on the floor that led to a late-game technical foul. But the aftermath was speculation about what is in Giannis’ head. Amid all that, once again head coach Doc Rivers is downplaying the intensity of the forward’s emotion.

With just over four minutes remaining on Wednesday, a visibly upset Antetokounmpo hurled the ball against the stanchion following a basket by Dyson Daniels. That earned him an immediate whistle.

Despite the optics of a superstar unraveling during a high-stakes game, Rivers stood firmly behind his player. In his post-game remarks, he suggested that silence from his team would be a far greater concern than an outburst. ​“Well, I’d rather have the emotions than none, you know?” Rivers told reporters when asked how he keeps the team from emotionally spiraling.

“So I’m not going to overdo a guy throwing the ball off a stanchion as the boiling point of the game… He was frustrated. You know, everybody was frustrated.” After empathizing with Giannis, Rivers later shifted the blame from individual temperament to the team’s collective offensive slowdown, particularly during a disastrous third quarter where Milwaukee managed only 18 points.

“I thought we just stopped moving, stopped playing the way we were playing offensively. I thought we got stagnant, not just one person, all of us,” Rivers explained, absolving the Greek Freak from criticism.

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In fact, Rivers pointed at the disparity in three-point shooting as the true deciding factor in determining tonight’s blowout verdict. “They had eight [threes] in the third quarter… they can’t make seven more threes than you and you expect to win the game.”

As much as Doc Rivers tried though, it was hard to look past Giannis Antetokounmpo’s growing frustrations.

Bucks’ third-quarter collapse fuels Giannis Antetokounmpo’s outburst

From oncourt dramatics to alleged trade demands, Doc Rivers has been downplaying much of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s emotions all season. But it’s hard to see is as a run-of-the-mill reaction.

​The 31-year-old’s technical foul served as a punctuation mark on a night where the Bucks’ efficiency evaporated after halftime. At the start, Milwaukee was on a blistering 84% shooting streak in the first quarter and 66% in the second.

However, the Hawks outscored the Bucks 65-42 in the second half, exposing a lack of defensive resistance that Rivers attributed to transition turnovers. “13 turnovers for 21 points… I thought they kept playing; they stayed in their system and we got out of ours,” Rivers lamented at the presser.

​This game marked Antetokounmpo’s second appearance since returning from a five-week absence due to a right calf strain. While he finished with 24 points, the frustration of a four-game losing streak (by a combined 97 points) clearly weighed on the two-time MVP.

The incident mirrors previous high-tension moments for Rivers and Giannis this season. By defending Giannis’ anger today, Rivers is prioritising his players. But it also displays an uncharacteristic levelheadedness as the Bucks fall five games behind the Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings, putting their decade-long playoff streak in serious jeopardy.