Bucks' Antetokounmpo named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after leading his team to a 4-2 series victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo, who was born and raised in Athens to Nigerian parents, joins Dirk Nowitzki (2011), Tony Parker (2007), Tim Duncan (2005 and 2003) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1994 and 1995) as the only international players to be named NBA Finals MVP.

It was a remarkable NBA Finals debut for the 26-year-old Antetokounmpo, especially considering he missed the final two games of the previous series after suffering a gruesome-looking hyperextension of his left knee.

But Antetokounmpo managed to play in each game of the NBA Finals during which he averaged 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5 assists over six games.

Antetokounmpo saved his best for last as he recorded a playoff career-high 50 points in the championship-clinching game at home to go along with 14 rebounds and five blocks.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Christian Schmollinger)

-reuters-

Bucks close out Suns for first NBA title in 50 years

The Milwaukee Bucks, powered by a masterpiece from Greek forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, captured the franchise's first NBA championship in 50 years with a 105-98 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

With the victory, the Bucks clinched the NBA Finals 4-2 and became only the fifth team to win the best-of-seven championship series after losing the first two games.

Antetokounmpo was named most valuable player of the series after scoring a playoff career-high 50 points in the clinching game that will surely soothe the Bucks' recent history of postseason failure.

"I'm so blessed to work with Giannis every day," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said during an on-court interview.

"He's a special human being, he's an even more amazing human being than he is a player. I've learned so much from him and his leadership."

Phoenix overcame a slow start to the game and led by as many as seven points early in the third quarter but could not contain Antetokounmpo down the stretch.

Suns guard Chris Paul had a team-high 26 points.

For Phoenix, who were seeking their first championship in the team's 53-year existence, the defeat marked the first time all season they have lost four consecutive games.

Unlike last year's NBA Finals when the celebratory screams of the Los Angeles Lakers echoed across an arena void of fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bucks' win kicked off a wild party for both a capacity crowd of 17,000 inside and the 65,000 supporters who attended a watch party outside the arena.

SHAKY START

Both teams got off to a shaky start that saw poor shooting on both ends of the court and plenty of turnovers but Milwaukee, powered by Antetokounmpo, led 29-16 after the first quarter.

Phoenix, facing elimination for the first time in the 2021 playoffs, shook off their lowest-scoring first quarter of the postseason as they turned up the defense while Chris Paul led the offense as the Suns took a 47-42 lead into the half.

The Suns opened up a seven-point lead early in the third quarter but the Bucks responded with a 16-6 run that put them back in front. From there the teams went back and forth and took a 77-77 tied into the final quarter.

But Milwaukee never trailed the rest of the way and it was Antetokounmpo who took over on the offensive end to deny the Suns' a chance to host a decisive seventh game. 

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Tom Hogue and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

-reuters-

Giannis hungers for NBA title with Bucks on the brink

MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo finds it harder to focus and stay in the moment with the Milwaukee Bucks on the verge of their first NBA title in 50 years.

The 26-year-old Greek star forward, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, can move beyond past playoff failures and win his first crown with a victory in Tuesday's sixth game of the NBA Finals at Milwaukee.

"It means a lot," Antetokounmpo said. "But I can't get too carried away. I have to stay in the present. I can't worry about the outcome.

"We know what the deal is. It's one game away from being an NBA champ, being in the history of this game, being always there. Nobody can take that away from you. It's going to be big."

The Bucks lead the best-of-seven showdown 3-2 and can win their first crown since 1971 before a noisy sellout crowd with 25,000 more people packing the "Deer District" and watching on screens outside the arena.

"It's going to be amazing to do it in front of our fans," Antetokounmpo said. "But there are more steps until we get there.

"We've got to focus. We've got to watch the clips and see what we did well, what we didn't do well, what can we do better.

"When the game starts, we have to take it a possession at a time and hopefully we can be in a position to win."

Milwaukee's Jrue Holiday said control during an emotional roller coaster is vital.

"We've really just got to lock in, not get too high, not get too low," Holiday said. "You've got to give it your all. At this point there's no excuses."

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to the NBA's best record the previous two seasons only to see Milwaukee make disappointing playoff exits, dropping four in a row to Toronto in 2019 and losing to NBA runner-up Miami in 2020.

"What we've been through the last couple years, it has prepared us to be in this moment," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "It's just part of our journey and we've still got a ways to go."

Antetokounmpo stresses the work yet to come.

"We have to enjoy the moment," Antetokounmpo said. "But the job is not done. We have to realize that. We have got to stay in the present.

"We've got to stay humble. When this team is humble, this team is very, very dangerous."

Past playoff failures have taught the Bucks to be champions, Milwaukee's Pat Connaughton said.

"When adversity hit in the playoffs, we weren't able to really get through it," he said.

"Throughout these playoffs, when adversity has hit, we've come together even stronger. We've had each other's backs. That's what championship-caliber basketball is all about."

The Bucks could become only the fifth team to win the title after losing the first two games of the finals, joining the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, 2006 Miami Heat, 1977 Portland Trail Blazers and 1969 Boston Celtics.

The rare feat would put Antetokounmpo among some of the NBA's greatest legends, including LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade and record 11-time champion Bill Russell.

"We don't stop," Antetokounmpo said. "Usually when you're down 0-2, you stop competing in a way. But this team, we don't do that. We keep coming, keep competing."

- Greatness in struggle -

The Suns, who dropped game five at home on Saturday, must win Tuesday to force a winner-take-all seventh game Thursday at Phoenix.

"Pressure is a privilege," Suns coach Monty Williams said. "As hard as it is, this is what you want. You're not going to find greatness on a beach. You're going to find it in the struggle."

The Suns chase the first title in their 53-year history.

"If you sulk about it, in the blink of an eye the season is going to be over," Phoenix forward Mikal Bridges said. "So, we'll learn from it. We know what we have to do. We're ready, man, just do or die."

Agence France-Presse

NBA Finals: Statement home win as Giannis, Bucks dominate in Game 3

MILWAUKEE—Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points with 13 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks claimed Game 3 of the NBA Finals in dominant fashion with a 120-100 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.

Coming home also appeared to bring Antetokounmpo sidekick Khris Middleton and point guard Jrue Holiday new life. Middleton had 15 first-half points and Holiday connected for four 3-pointers in an explosive third quarter as the Bucks pushed their 15-point halftime lead to 22.

Holiday had 21 points and Middleton added 18.

Phoenix fell behind in the second quarter and never recovered with top scorer Devin Booker unable to find his stroke in a 3-of-14 shooting night that shifts the momentum of the best-of-seven series.

Milwaukee ate in the paint, shredding the Suns' small-ball lineup as DeAndre Ayton sat idle due to foul trouble. The Bucks, who had 54 points in the paint in Game 2, matched that number in Game 3.

Threes started to fall for the Suns in the third after Phoenix missed 12 of 14 treys in the first half, but Booker never found a rhythm.

The Suns scored 118 points in each of the first two games to build a 2-0 series lead but shot 29 percent from deep in Game 3 thanks largely to Jae Crowder's 6-of-7 night.

Cam Johnson came off the bench to help keep Phoenix in the game in the third before Antetokounmpo completed a three-point play and found Pat Connaughton for a 3 to end the third. Johnson's emphatic, and-one poster dunk over P.J. Tucker had cut the lead to 10, and his reverse layup on the next possession made it an eight-point game just four minutes earlier. 

Booker did not play in the fourth quarter. Paul left the game for good with the Suns down 23 with 5:02 left in the game. He had a team-high 19 points and nine assists, scooting past Scottie Pippen on the all-time playoffs assist list.

The Bucks led 60-45 at halftime on the legs of a 21-7 run closing out the second quarter, largely with Ayton on the bench. He went back to the pine with 10:24 left in the third after his fourth foul.

Ayton started the game on fire with 16 points in the first 14 minutes but finished with 18.

He had 42 points and 12 rebounds in a Game 2 loss. 

Booker missed nine of his 11 shot attempts in the first half with the Bucks keeping bodies nearby.

-reuters-

Bucks don't rule out Giannis Antetokounmpo return for NBA Finals

LOS ANGELES -- The Milwaukee Bucks are still hoping two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo could return from injury in time to boost their championship series bid against the Phoenix Suns.

The Greek star missed the last two games of the Bucks' Eastern Conference Finals victory over the Atlanta Hawks after hyperextending his left knee in game four.

With game one of the of the NBA Finals set for Tuesday, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Antetokounmpo was "day-to-day" with the injury.

"You have to listen to the player and then you have to listen to the sports performance group, and at some point (Bucks general manager) Jon Horst and myself are part of the conversations, but it’s just a day-to-day thing," Budenholzer said after the Bucks beat the Hawks 118-107 in Atlanta on Saturday night for a 4-2 series victory.

"We'll update it when appropriate. The conversations between he and myself, it's kind of private and we'll see where he is each day."

Khris Middleton came up big in Antetokounmpo's absence, scoring 32 points in the series-clinching win that sent the Bucks to their first NBA Finals since 1974.

Budenholzer said he wouldn't expect any less from all the Bucks players if Antetokounmpo remains sidelined.

"If he's on the bench for whatever reason, we need to be able to play," said Budenholzer, who added that he was impressed with Antetokounmpo's enthusiasm and leadership from the sidelines during the final two games against Atlanta.

"I think he almost got a delay of game," he said of Antetokounmpo's enthusiastic in-game conversations with teammates during Saturday's game.

"To see that kind of leadership, that kind of connection and that kind of commitment from a player you know would be dying to be out there -- I just loved his energy on the bench."

Agence France-Presse