Prior to the Middleton injury, and even more so after it, the best strategy against Giannis is to defend him in isolation while shutting down his teammates and cleaning up the glass; and draw him out to the perimeter to attack him on defense.
Al’s Hawks implemented a similar defensive strategy against a prime Dwight Howard (Dwight was a consistent top 5 MVP candidate). Dwight put up gaudy numbers and the Magic lost the series.
Make no mistake, one on one against any of our defenders will be no cakewalk, he’ll have to earn it. Then, he’ll have to defend the ball against the offensive player of our choice. By the end of the games and series, he’ll be spent. It’ll be the basketball version of the rope a dope.