In a performance for the ages,
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to
105-98 win in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals on Tuesday night, scoring a playoff career-high 50 points (17/19 FT, 16/25 FG) to go along with 14 rebounds, 2 assists and a game-high 5 blocks. The Greek Freak was all over the floor, and was the unanimous choice for the Bill Russell Finals MVP Award, averaging 35.2 ppg, 13.2 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.8 bpg on .611 FG% through the six game series. Giannis became the 6th player in league history to average 30 ppg & 10 rpg in the Finals, and was only the 7th player to score 50 points in a NBA Finals game.
This is the first NBA Championship for the Bucks since 1971 (50 years ago), a team that was led by all-time greats Kareem Abdu-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. The two were present at Game 3, with Kareem bravely stating that the Bucks would
win the NBA Finals in 6 games.
After a dominant 1st quarter that had the Bucks up 13 points,
Chris Paul led the Suns back in the 2nd quarter as the Point God had 13 points and 4 assists to stake the Suns to a 5 point lead at halftime. Considering
Devin Booker had only 4 points at that point, things were looking pretty good for Phoenix. A back-and-forth 3rd quarter ended with the game tied at 77 heading into the 4th quarter.
In the 4th quarter, the Suns couldn't stop Giannis and struggled to score down the stretch - Booker in particular, as he finished 8/22 FG in the final game of the playoffs. Still - even with Booker struggling, the Suns had their chances. A four point game late, momentum finally swung in the Bucks favor for good with 56.9 seconds to go, as
Khris Middleton hit a big time shot to get the Bucks lead back up to six points, followed by two free throws to take the lead up to eight points moments later. From there, it was academic as the Bucks and their fans started to celebrate with more than 30 seconds left in the game.
In the end, the Bucks physicality wore the Suns down over six games and Phoenix simply couldn't match Milwaukee's shot-making late in games. When Milwaukee needed a big bucket they were able to turn to Middleton, who averaged 24.0 ppg in the Finals, while the Suns weren't able to answer after winning the first two games of the series. Jrue Holiday put the defensive clamps on Paul throughout the Finals and it was clear that the Suns missed injured Dario Saric.
With the Bucks celebrating in their locker room, they were paid a visit by Suns head coach Monty Williams, who showed that he is as classy as it gets in sports. He delivered a lovely speech to the winning team alongside Giannis, and has to be commended on his professionalism and class.
With
65,000+ fans outside of the arena in Deer District, it's set to be a long night of partying in Milwaukee.
Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
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