The NBA Cup atmosphere delivered, and so did the defending champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. For a brief stretch, the Chicago Bulls, led by Josh Giddey, looked poised for an upset, trailing by just one at halftime. Then came the inevitable as Giannis Antetokounmpo took over with a season-high 41 points. Still, his brilliance wasn’t the only storyline that captured attention.

The Greek Freak was on the verge of his first triple-double of the season, though his shooting touch wasn’t quite the same. It marked the first time he dipped below 60% from the field this year. After the game, Doc Rivers offered a pointed explanation, saying Giannis gets fewer calls because “he’s a good guy,” suggesting officials aren’t watching him as closely as they should.

“Yeah, he’s just listen, and I’m not going to get back on the soap box, but a lot of those he gets fouled, gets hit on the arm, he’s just such a good guy. Sometimes I wish he wasn’t as far as the officials, but he rarely says things. They did acknowledge in the first half that that was probably a foul. It’s funny when they say probably, that means it was a foul,” Rivers said after the game.

To be fair, when a 6’11” powerhouse like Giannis drives into the paint, contact is inevitable. Defenders have little choice but to use extra force to slow him down. Officials do blow the whistle in his favor, as he is one of only five players averaging 10 free throws per game, but they cannot call a foul every time he powers through traffic.

That’s the price of being Giannis Antetokounmpo. At 243 pounds with his explosiveness, defenders are bound to use their leverage just to stay in front of him. It’s a similar story for Nikola Jokic, who arguably deserves more free throws but faces the same problem. For officials, it’s hard to distinguish between natural contact and what truly disrupts a player’s shot or balance. Yet, one thing doesn’t change.

“He just keeps doing it every night,” Doc Rivers said about Giannis Antetokounmpo. And it’s starting to get a lot scarier than before.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is only getting better

This wasn’t a typical Giannis Antetokounmpo dominant display. For the first three quarters, he was shooting under 50%. Naturally, the Bulls never really went away, keeping the game close, even leading the first quarter. But all it takes is one quarter for the Greek Freak to impose his footprints on the game. He proved that tonight.

Antetokounmpo hit seven of his 10 shots in the final stretch, scoring 19 of his 41 in the fourth. That included a three-pointer, which is becoming an efficient weapon for him. The 30-year-old doesn’t attempt them often. But he has quietly honed the skill to take advantage of defenders sagging off him. He has hit seven of his 13 attempts this season, including one in the fourth quarter tonight.

Furthermore, other parts of his game are starting to shine even more. His efficiency is off the charts, converting a career-high 64.2% from the field. And it’s coming in a variety of ways. He hit a turnaround fadeaway to win the game against their arch-rivals, the Indiana Pacers. Antetokounmpo has also hit four of his eight well-set jump shots. Don’t get it wrong, most of his activity remains at the rim.

The entire league knows that, but there’s no anecdote. Giannis Antetokounmpo is shooting 77.9% in the restricted area. Over 113 attempts, he has only been blocked four times, when under immense pressure at the rim. The majority of his scoring is going to come from just running through defenses unopposed.

But they can’t give him daylight to shoot the ball as often anymore. When in rhythm, Antetokounmpo is starting to knock down shots. The concept of building a wall has become long outdated as Antetokounmpo’s passing instincts have developed. Now, it’s even harder to find a way to solve the puzzle. And the Milwaukee Bucks are soaring along by playing to his melody.