On Saturday night, the team that represented the Eastern Conference in The Finals got one step closer to winning their second title in franchise history. Three days later in front of their home fans and nearly 65,000 that watched outside their home arena the Eastern Conference champions finally reached the top of the NBA mountain led by their perennial All-Star and two-time Kia MVP who dreamed of this moment as he prepared to be drafted into the NBA nearly a decade ago.
On Tuesday night, the Eastern Conference
champion Milwaukee Bucks, who feel short of their goal to win a championship
the last two postseasons got it done defeating the Western Conference champion
Phoenix Suns 105-98 to win the 2021 Finals 4-2 and captured their second NBA
title in franchise history in their third trip in franchise history to the NBA
Finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with a
playoff career-high 50 points on 16 for 25 from the field and 17 for 19 from
the foul line with 14 rebounds and a playoff career-high five blocks, earning
the Bill Russell Finals MVP.
Fellow All-Star Khris Middleton added 17
points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals, while reserve Bobby
Portis poured in 16 points on 6 for 10 shooting and fellow All-Star Jrue
Holiday nearly had a triple-double with 12 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds,
and four steals. Brook Lopez added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Antetokounmpo 50-point night tied Hall of
Famer Bob Pettit for the most points in a Finals clinching game. The five-time
All-Star also became the first player to register 50-plus points, 10-plus
rebounds, and five-plus blocks in a Finals game since 1974, where block shots
became an official stat in 1973-74 season.
Most Points Scored In Finals Clinching
Game All-Time (All Were Done In Game 6)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) 50 points in
2021
Bob Pettit: 50 points in 1958
Michael Jordan: 45 points in 1998
Earvin “Magic” Johnson: 42 points (1980)
Shaquille O’Neal: 41 points in 2000
This championship clincher displayed the
Bucks resiliency that had been on display this entire postseason. After leading
29-16 after the first quarter and led by 13 points early in the second quarter,
the Suns outscored the Bucks 31-13 in the second quarter to lead 47-42 at the
half. The Bucks bounced back in the third quarter outscoring the Suns 35-30 to
tie the game 77-77 after three quarters as Antetokounmpo, who had 17 points,
seven rebounds and three block shots on 6 for 10 shooting in the first half had
on 6 for 10 shooting in the third and 7 for 7 from the foul line in the third
quarter.
With the score tied 82-82 early in the
fourth quarter the Bucks took control outscoring the Suns from that point 23-16
to close the game to win the title, led by Antetokounmpo’s 13 points, four
rebounds and two block shots, going 4 for 5 from the field, and 5 for 6 from
the foul line in the fourth quarter.
“It means a lot,” Antetokounmpo, who
averaged 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, five assists, and 1.8 block shots on 62
percent from the field in the 2021 Finals said during the Finals trophy
presentation to ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “I want to thank the city of Milwaukee
for believing in me, you know. I want to thank my teammates. They played hard
every freakin game, you know. I trusted this team. I wanted to do it here in
this city. I wanted to do it with these guys. So, I’m happy. I’ happy we we’re
able to get it done.”
While it may be easy to have expected
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to finally become NBA champions this season, it was
an eight-year process that had a lot of
ups and a number of downs.
It began with the drafting of
Antetokounmpo No. 15 overall in 2013 NBA Draft, an unknown prospect from Athens,
Greece, who had dreams of being an NBA player and one day one of the best in
the game.
“I’m an all-around player. I can jump. I
can shoot and pass the ball,” a then 18-year-old 196-pound Antetokounmpo
described his game. “I can do everything on the court. I want to be an NBA
player.”
That dream became a reality as the Bucks
took the guy that was eventually dubbed “The Greek Freak” No. 15 overall in
2013 NBA Draft.
In his first visit to the then Bucks arena
the BMO Harris Bradley Center, Antetokounmpo with a couple members of his
family looked into the rafters and saw the retired jerseys of Hall of Famer
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson and said, “Maybe 15, 20 years, maybe my
number is up there next to Kareem, Oscar Robertson.”
The Bucks also that offseason acquired
former Second-Round pick (No. 39 overall) out of Texas A&M Khris Middleton
from the Detroit Pistons.
The start of the Antetokounmpo era got off
to a rough start as the Bucks registered an 89-157 record in his first three
seasons, which included a 15-67 record in his and Middleton’s first season
under then head coach Larry Drew, which was his lone season on the Bucks
sidelines.
Things got better in 2014-15 season, the
first of four under Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, where the Bucks went 41-41 and
made the playoffs as the No. 6 Seed but lost to their Central Division rival
the Chicago Bulls in six games.
After missing the 2016 Playoffs, the Bucks
began their five straight seasons of making the postseason in 2016-17 season
going 42-40, and while they fell in the First-Round to the Toronto Raptors in
six games, Antetokounmpo won Kia Most Improved Player while now Indiana Pacers
lead guard Malcolm Brogdon won Kia Rookie of the Year.
After a 44-38 mark the next season, the
No. 7 Seeded Bucks played the eventual East runner-up Boston Celtics tough
before falling in seven games. In the offseason, the Bucks fired then head
coach Jason Kidd, the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks after four
seasons.
The summer of 2018, the Bucks went looking
for a head coach that could get them over the hump and they hired former Hawks
head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Over the next two seasons the Bucks would
compile the best record in the regular season going 60-22 in 2018-19 and 56-17
in 2019-20, led by Antetokounmpo, who earned back-to-back Kia MVP awards, and
was named Kia Defensive Player of the Year also in 2019-20. Coach Budenholzer
earned 2018-19 Kia Coach of the Year, while Bucks General Manager John Horst
won NBA Executive of the Year.
They Bucks in the 2019 Playoffs, swept
their other Central Division rival the Detroit Pistons 4-0 in the opening-round
to win their first playoff series since 2001 where Hall of Famer Ray Allen,
Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, and Sam Cassel led the Bucks to the East Finals, where
they lost to Hall of Famer Allen Iverson and the Finals runner-up Philadelphia
76ers in seven games. After defeating the Celtics in five games in the East
Semis, the Bucks after taking a 2-0 series lead in 2019 lost the final four
games of the series to the eventual NBA champion Raptors in six games.
In the restart of the 2019-20 season due
to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Orlando, FL, the Bucks after taking
down the No. 8 Seeded Orlando Magic in five games, fell in the East Semifinals
to the eventual Eastern Conference champion and runner-up in the 2020 Finals in
the Miami Heat in five games.
In summer of 2020, the Bucks in trying to
upgrade their roster acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans Jrue Holiday, who
they hoped was the final piece to help the Bucks win the championship.
That move then led to Antetokounmpo
re-signing with the Bucks on a five-year $228 million super max contract
extension, the largest contract in NBA history.
While the Bucks did not capture the best
record in NBA in 2020-21 season, they played well enough to finish No. 3 in the
East at 46-26.
In a rematch with the Heat, the Bucks
played with a hunger and determination to beat the team that ended their
championship dreams in the East Semis and they swept them 4-0.
After falling behind 2-0 in the East Semis
against the Brooklyn Nets, losing Game 2 by 39 points (125-86), the Bucks won
four of the next five games, including an epic Game 7 at the Nets 115-111 in
overtime to take the series.
In the Eastern Conference Finals against
the Atlanta Hawks, the Bucks dropped Game 1 116-113, which would end up being
their only loss at home this postseason. They won Games 2 (125-91) and 3
(113-102) but they lost Game 4 (110-88) and they also lost Antetokounmpo to a
hyperextended left knee early in the third quarter.
Behind Middleton and Holiday, the Bucks won
the next two games winning Game 5 at home 123-112, and the series clincher
118-107 at the Hawks to take the series in six games and advance to The Finals
for the first time since 1974, where they lost to the eventual NBA champion
Celtics in seven games.
The Bucks began the 2021 Finals against
the Suns back at full strength with the return of Antetokounmpo. However, they
dropped Games 1 (1181-05) and 2 (118-108). The Bucks took both games at home,
winning Game 3 (120-100) and Game 4 (109-103). They won Game 5 at the Suns
(123-119) and as mentioned earlier won Game 6 back at home to win their second
title in franchise history.
From the “Big Three” of Antetokounmpo,
Middleton, and Holiday to the rest of the team, the Bucks togetherness and
resilience won them their title and earned their “Big Three” more accolades to
their respective career resumes, while the team also made some major NBA
history.
The Bucks ended a 49-year drought since
their last title in the aforementioned 1971, the longest drought in the NBA.
The Bucks went 10-1 at home (6-6 on road) in 2021 Playoffs.
Longest Active NBA Title Droughts
Sacramento Kings: 69 seasons
Atlanta Hawks: 63 seasons
Phoenix Suns: 53 seasons-yet to win a
title
Los Angeles Clippers: 51 seasons
Milwaukee Bucks: 49 seasons
The Bucks joined the 1977 Portland Trail
Blazers, and 2006 Miami Heat as the three teams to win four straight games and
the championship after falling behind 2-0 in NBA Finals history. The Bucks also
joined those three championship teams along with the 1969 Celtics, and the 2016
Cleveland Cavaliers as teams to win The Finals after being down 2-0.
Antetokounmpo joined Hall of Famers Bob
Pettit, the late Elgin Baylor, Rick Barry, Jerry West, and Michael Jordan, and
the Los Angeles Lakers four-time NBA champion LeBron James as the only seven
players to score 50 points in an NBA Finals Game. Antetokounmpo joined Bob
Pettit as the only two players to score 50 in the championship clinching game.
Six Players with At Least 3 40-Point Games
In NBA Finals Series All-Time
Jerry West: 10 such games
LeBron James: 8 such games
Michael Jordan: 6 such games
Shaquille O’Neal: 5 such games
Elgin Baylor: 4 such games
Rick Barry: 3 such games
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 3 such games
Antetokounmpo also joined Jordan and
fellow Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who led the Houston Rockets to
back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 as the only three players in NBA history
to win Kia MVP, Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in their careers.
Jordan (1988), Olajuwon (1994), and Antetokounmpo (2020) are also the only
three players to win Kia MVP and Kia Defensive Player of the Year in same
season.
Antetokounmpo became just the fourth
player with three games of at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in any playoff
series and joined O’Neal as the only players to do so in The Finals all-time.
Antetokounmpo also joined Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar (1974 and 1980), O’Neal (2000, 2001, and 2002), and James (2017)
as the only three players to average 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds on
50-plus percent from the field In a Finals series all-time.
He also joined future Olajuwon (1994 and
1995), future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki (2011); three-time NBA champion with
the San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker (2007) and his Hall of Famer Tim Duncan
(1999, 2003, and 2005) as the five international players to win NBA Finals MVP.
When Antetokounmpo re-signed with the
Bucks back in the offseason the hope was that this was the start of their
championship run and a sign that a small market team can keep their star
player.
That happened and Antetokounmpo helped
lead the Bucks to the finish line of a journey that took five decades by making
plays that were not only spectacular but were game changers, especially in the
prior two games that put the Bucks in position to win it on Tuesday night.
He had the block on the dunk attempt by
Suns’ Deandre Ayton off a lob pass from All-Star Devin Booker that led to a
layup by Middleton. Then in the closing seconds of Game 5 finished a lob pass
off a steal from Holiday that he dunked while getting fouled by Suns All-Star
lead guard Chris Paul. Then he capped it off scoring 33 of his 50 points in
second half of Game 6 clincher.
“This is my city. They trust me. They believe in me,” Antetokounmpo said during the Finals trophy presentation. “Like its easy to go somewhere and go win a championship with somebody else. It’s easy. I could go to a super team and just do my part to win a championship and steal one. But this is the hard way to do it, and we did it. We [bleep] did it.”
What Antetokounmpo did more than anything
in this Game 6 clincher to get the Bucks to was make his free throws, which he
has struggled to do the entire postseason, especially in The Finals.
Antetokounmpo entered Game 6 shooting 55.6
percent for the 2021 postseason. In the first three games of The Finals, he went
31 for 47 (66 percent) from the foul line. He was even worse at 8 for 19 (42
percent) in Games 4 and 5. But in Game 6, Antetokounmpo shot 17 for 19 from the
foul line (89.5 percent).
“Don’t let nobody tell you what you can be
or what you cannot do, you know. People told me I can’t make my free throw. I
made my free throws tonight, and I’m a freakin champion,” Antetokounmpo said in
his postgame presser while holding the Larry O’Brien trophy and his Finals MVP
in both hands. “I made then when I’m supposed to make them.”
Along with Antetokounmpo making his free
throws, Middleton’s shot making in the clutch throughout the entire playoffs
and Holiday’s defense and contributions offensively made a huge difference in
the Bucks winning it all on Tuesday night.
Middleton’s jumper with 56.9 seconds left
in regulation sealed the win in Game 6. Going back to Game 1 of the
opening-round versus the Heat, Middleton’s jumper with 00.5 seconds left in
overtime helped the Bucks to a 109-107 win.
In the previously mentioned Game 7 win in
East Semis at the Nets, Middleton’s go-ahead jumper with 40.1 seconds left that
put the Bucks on top and eventually won them the game and series.
In Game 3 victory of East Finals at Hawks,
Middleton scored a playoff career-high of 20 of his then playoff career-high
tying 38 points in the fourth quarter. In the Game 6 clincher of the series at
Hawks, Middleton scored 23 of his 32 points in third quarter.
The Bucks tied The Finals 2-2 in a nail-biting
win versus Suns thanks to Middleton’s new playoff career-high of 40 points,
with 14 of those points coming in the fourth quarter, that included the final
10 points of the contest.
After struggling for much of the playoffs
with his production on the road, Middleton came up big in the Game 5 win at the
Suns with 29 points, seven boards, and five assists on 12 for 23 shooting,
which included three made three-pointers. Middleton hit the game-clinching free
throws in the finals seconds that got the Bucks within a win of their second
title in franchise history.
“It means everything that they trust in
me,” Middleton said during the trophy presentation to Andrews on making timely
shots for the Bucks in the clutch. “Each time late in game, they tell me to go
get the ball, shoot it, pass it, whatever you do, just play with confidence. Be
aggressive. And that gives me all the confidence in the world when my teammates
have it.”
Middleton before becoming a two-time
All-Star as mentioned earlier was a Second-Round pick (No. 39) overall by the
Pistons. He spent time in the NBA’s G-League, and after just one season with
the Pistons was dealt to the Bucks.
It would have been enough to make a lot of
players quit if they had to go the extra mile to make it in the NBA. That is
what the Charleston, SC native did was
work at his craft day-in and day-out and it led Middleton to becoming not only
the first G-League alum to become an All-Star but a solid one-A option for the
Bucks alongside Antetokounmpo. Now they can call themselves NBA champions.
“Just keeping my belief in my faith and
then having this team around me, this organization, all my teammates every day,
they wanted me to work. And it’s easy to come to work with guys like this,” Middleton,
who averaged 24.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on 49 percent shooting
in The Finals said. “All they want to do is compete, hoop, and play. So, it’s
easy to come in everyday and every night and try to get better.”
While Antetokounmpo and Middleton helped
the Bucks become a perennial postseason participant and on the fence of
becoming champions, but it was the addition of the aforementioned Holiday that helped
the Bucks become champions, especially the last two games of East Finals
without Antetokounmpo and the entire 2021 Finals.
Holiday had 25 points, 13 assists, and six
rebounds in Game 5 of East Finals versus Hawks. He followed that up with a near
triple-double of 27 points, nine assists, nine rebounds, four steals and two
block shots, going 11 for 23 from the field, hitting four three-pointers in the
Game 6 clincher. Holiday had 17 of those 27 points in second half.
In Game 5 of The Finals at the Suns,
Holiday had 27 points, 13 assists, and three steals on 12 for 20 shooting,
including 3 for 6 from three-point range.
That previously mentioned finish on the
alley-oop dunk by Antetokounmpo from Holiday in the final 20 seconds came off a
steal by Holiday on Suns’ Devin Booker in the final 20 seconds.
While he went just 4 for 19 shooting,
including 2 for 7 from three-point range in Game 6, Holiday still made his
imprint on the game with his ability to find his open teammates, his rebounding
and his defense on the Suns starting guards of Booker and Paul.
“They embraced me, you know,” Holiday who averaged 16.7 points, 9.3 assists, 6.2 boards, and 2.2 steals in 2021 Finals said to Andrews on why he made such an immediate impact in his first season with the Bucks. “They told me what the deal was from the beginning. I’ve seen all the work they’ve put in. How close they’ve gotten, and they believed in me honestly, and coming here was obviously the greatest thing of my career.”
There have been many times over the course
of the last two seasons that Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer had faced
questions from the outside about if his team could get it done under his watch.
So much so, that if the Bucks had another flame out in the playoffs that he was
going to get the axe. That came very close to reality in the East Semis in Game
7 if two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant’s foot had been on the three-point line
in the final second of regulation that tied the game.
Throughout the course of the past two
seasons, Budenholzer had faced a lot of questions about his ability to make in
game adjustments as well as his ability to adjust his style on both ends of the
floor to the personnel of the roster.
Those questions were especially asked when
Portis did not play at the close of the East Semis against the Nets.
But as he learned in his time as an
assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs working for head coach Gregg
Popovich, Coach Budenholzer stayed the course and now can call himself an NBA
championship head coach and a five-time championship coach counting his four
titles (1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007) as an assistant with the Spurs.
From day one as head coach of the Bucks,
Coach Budenholzer preached getting better, embracing competition, playing
together, building championship habits each and every day from practice to
gametime and it all came together in 2020-21.
“These players, they’re champions every
day. Every day they come to the building, they’re champions,” Budenholzer said
during championship presentation. “They’ve embraced competing. They’ve embraced
playing together, and it’s made them champions tonight. I couldn’t be more
prouder of them. I’m so happy for these players.”
One player Coach Budenholzer was so happy
and is happy to work with everyday over the past three seasons is
Antetokounmpo, who Budenholzer said is a “more amazing human being than he is a
player.”
Coach Budenholzer added that the
championship culture that the Bucks have built over the past three seasons that
finally paid off with a title on Tuesday night started with the leadership of
Antetokounmpo and Middleton, and that he is “glad” to be a part of ,something
as “beautiful” as this.
This beautiful moment is also the result of Coach Budenholzer and the Bucks front office in the ownership group of Wes Edens, Marc Lasry, Jamie Dinan, and Mike Fascitelli working in tandem to identify the right players to draft and sign in free agency.
To put that into perspective, there is
only one lottery pick on the Bucks roster in Lopez, who was taken No. 10
overall by the then New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets) in 2008 NBA Draft. Six
players on the Bucks were chosen in picks 15-30, including the aforementioned
Antetokounmpo and Holiday, No. 17 overall pick in 2009 by the Philadelphia
76ers, where he played from 2009-2013 and then for the New Orleans Pelicans
from 2013-2020. The are seven Second-Round picks on the roster, including the
previously mentioned Middleton, and four undrafted players, that includes P.J.
Tucker, who the Bucks acquired at the Mar. 25 trade deadline from the Rockets
and former Spur Bryn Forbes, whose perimeter shooting made a huge difference in
the First-Round against the Heat, and made up for the loss of starting guard
Donte DiVincenzo, who was lost for the remainder of the 2021 Playoffs in Game 3
of the First-Round at the Heat due to an ankle injury.
“Acknowledge first the city of Milwaukee,
for the fans for everything you guys have done,” Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry said
to start the trophy presentation to Andrews. “I want to acknowledge our coach
[Budenholzer], our GM [Jon Horst], but most of all, I want to acknowledge our
player. So, thank you.”
This past season marked 50 years since the
Bucks won their first title in franchise history, taking down the then
Baltimore Bullets (now Washington Wizards) in a four-game sweep on Apr. 30,
1971. They were led by aforementioned Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who in
his third season then won Kia MVP and Finals MVP. The team was also led by Hall
of Famer Oscar, who the Bucks acquired from the Cincinnati Royals that season
to compliment Abdul-Jabbar, who was Lew Alcindor then.
The Bucks that season compiled the second
most wins in NBA history then at 66, which included a 20-game winning streak,
an NBA record before the 33-game winning streak by the eventual NBA champion
Los Angeles Lakers in 1971-72 season. They went 12-2 in the playoffs that
season on their way to the title.
“I think it’s great for the city of
Milwaukee,” Abdul-Jabbar said to Neil Everett on late night addition of ESPN’s
“Sportscenter” from Los Angeles, CA. “The fans are so great there. They’re
loyal. They’re crazy and they stick with it.”
“So, it’s been 50 years, and I’m happy for
them, and I think this can be a new era for them. They’ve been waiting for this
for a long time.”
Perhaps the most symbolic part of the Bucks winning the 2021 title was the tremendous support shown by the fans of squad who packed not only Fiserv Forum throughout their playoff run but especially in the Finals. They particularly showed up in large numbers outside the arena, which became known as “The Deer District.”
To put how big that fan support was into
context, there was a great deal of division not just in the country but in the
state of Wisconsin after 29-year-old African American male Jacob Blake was seriously
injured after Kenosha, WI policeman Rusten Sheskey shot him in the back on Aug.
23, 2020. Three days later, the Bucks protested playing Game 4 of the First-Round
series against the Magic.
Nearly one month and three days later many
of those same fans were united and celebrating together for their team that won
its first title in five decades.
Tuesday night was not only the second
title in their third appearance in the NBA Finals for the Milwaukee Bucks,
their first title in 50 seasons, it was a moment of celebration and joy for an
organization that built its way to being a champion one piece at a time.
It was built around drafting and signing
the right players that played well collectively. It was drafting, and acquiring
a trio of players in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday
who care only about winning and playing together. It is about head coach in
Mike Budenholzer and his coaching staff having a system that brings the best
out of collective roster on both ends of the court.
More than anything this championship for
the Bucks is about perseverance. After falling short of just getting to The
Finals the last two seasons, it would have been easy for the Bucks front office
to make major changes like firing head coach Mike Budenholzer or possibly
trading Middleton. Instead, they kept Budenholzer, made the major deal in
acquiring Holiday, while also adding solid complimentary players in Bobby
Portis, P.J. Tucker and Byrn Forbes.
After getting over some tough hurdles in
the 2021 Playoffs, the Bucks are now NBA champions and now it is all about
hopefully doing it again in the 2021-22 season.
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