Giannis Wills Bucks to First Finals Win Since 1974 With Holiday's Vital Help

Antetokounmpo and the Bucks turned in one of their most complete performances of the year on Sunday night.

It looks like we’re in for a competitive Finals after all.

After a frustrating first eight quarters of the series, Giannis Antetekuonmpo and the Bucks turned in one of their most complete performances of the year on Sunday night, a 120-100 victory that effectively saved Milwaukee’s season. There will be no sweep. Chris Paul’s coronation is not imminent. As Game 4 looms on Wednesday, the Larry O’Brien Trophy is firmly up for grabs.

Game 1 featured an antsy Antetekuonmpo and a timid Bucks squad. The Suns sprinted to a 118-105 win to open the series, with Paul spending much of the second half torching every Milwaukee defender in sight. 

Game 2 saw a classic Antetokounmpo performance, but as the two-time MVP shined, his supporting cast withered. Antetokounmpo finished the night with 42 points on 15-for-22 shooting. Co-stars Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday combined to score just 28 points, missing 25 of 37 attempts from the floor. The contest provided serious shades of LeBron James in 2007 and 2018, carrying an overmatched squad with a serious chance of being swept. 

The same script didn’t continue in Game 3.

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Sunday’s blowout victory marked another standout performance from Antetokounmpo as he continued to quiet his chorus of critics. Antetokounmpo is, of course, the least conventional superstar in recent memory, but doubting his standing as one of the top players this century is foolish. He’s the sport’s greatest athletic marvel since Shaquille O’Neal, and each year brings a new facet of his game. This is no Ben Simmons situation. Antetokounmpo’s vision as a pick-and-roll creator continues to grow, and he has greater touch within the arc than he’s given credit for. His full array of talents was on display in Game 3.

Antetekuonmpo led all scorers once again on Sunday with 41 points, adding 13 rebounds and six assists. The final stat line is jarring, though frankly, it doesn’t appropriately express the greatness of Antetekuonmpo’s performance. 

Milwaukee’s leading man set the tone for the Bucks with a palpable urgency in Game 3, attacking the paint via post-ups, duck-ins, and headlong drives from the perimeter at every conceivable opportunity. All 14 of Antetekuonmpo’s made baskets came within five feet. He tallied seven points during a 16-0 run to close the third, a run that put the contest out of reach as a Phoenix comeback loomed. Antetokounmpo is the second player this century (joining Shaq) with 40 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back Finals games. He’s made 29 of his last 45 shots, and he’s a plus-24 over the course of the 2021 Finals. Antetokounmpo is a historic player performing at a historic clip, fulfilling his promise of his physical gifts with relative ease.

Bucks fans will remember Antetekuonmpo’s Game 3 dominance for years to come, though as we saw in Game 2, a superb Finals performance doesn’t necessarily guarantee a victory. But Sunday night was more than simply the Giannis show.

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Milwaukee’s supporting cast provided the requisite help alongside their superstar forward in Game 3, with Holiday turning in a superb performance on both ends of the floor. Holiday shook off a truly dreadful first two games–which included a 11-for-35 mark from the field—with a 21-point performance (including five threes) in Game 3, adding nine assists.

And it wasn’t just the scoring that defined Holiday’s night. He hounded Paul and Devin Booker throughout the contest, taking Booker out of commission throughout the evening. Phoenix’s young guard channeled his inner Kobe Bryant in Game 2 as he tallied 31 points, including a number of clutch baskets down the stretch. That version of Booker was nowhere to be found in Game 3. He made just three of 14 shots and one of seven threes, often forced into difficult looks as Holiday fought over and around screens. 

Holiday’s $160 million contract has drawn some serious scrutiny this year, and perhaps he’s not an ideal max player given his physical limitations. But it’s hard to envision this physical and maniacal Bucks defense without him. If Holiday can continue to shoot with any shred of consistency, we could very well see the Bucks erase a 2–0 series deficit.

We won’t plan a parade in Milwaukee quite yet. Booker will shoot better the rest of the way, the Phoenix crowd will be rabid in Game 5 and head coach Monty Williams is bound to find a different formula against Antetekuonmpo moving forward. Yet however this series ends, it’s worth marveling at what we’ve seen from Antetekuonmpo thus far. One of the most improbable MVPs in league history is now shining on the game’s brightest stage, delivering spectacular performances less than two weeks after suffering a potentially-season-ending injury. Antetekuonmpo is making the most of his first Finals. Let’s hope this isn’t his last.