OT: Milwaukee Bucks win 4 straight to claim NBA title. Giannis earns MVP with 50 points in decisive game.
Giannis was unstoppable. He willed his team to victory when no one else could score. His 50 points required 16/25 from the field and 17/19 from the line (where he had been shooting <60% in the playoffs). He also went for 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. It was one of the best finals performances... ever.
The post game celebration with longtime teammate Khris Middleton was great stuff. The Milwaukee fans are unbelievable in and outside of the stadium. Giannis has officially arrived now with a ? and a ?. Congrats to Milwaukee on an incredible season.
Doh. Just beat me to it. Crazy game by Greek Freak. The FTs will always be the highlight. Dude just showed up and put on a masterpiece. The blocks are a close second. Almost scored half the teams points to boot.
Best finals in a long time despite not having “big market” teams.
Agreed my man. Giannis is going to be a one man Market Maker in every playoffs throughout his prime from here on out. Milwaukee is a very small market, but Giannis is BIG TIME.
I’m torn. On the one hand, Giannis is the probably the most humble, likable superstar in decades (look up Giannis fan videos). On the other hand, Milwaukee fans are generally awful people.
Compared to what fan base?
Somewhere between Lincoln, NE <<<<<< Bucks <<<<<< and the morons who put each other in the hospital at Giants/Dodgers games?!?!
This is an odd post. I've lived 40+ years, first time I've ever seen anyone who hates Milwaukee.
I'll take a guess though. You are a Cubs fan who lives in far northern Chicago, thus you make frequent trips up north to see your favorite baseball team.
If that's the case, as a Reds fan who saw Cubs fans invade too many games in the Queen City, I am on the side of the Milwaukee fans. :-)
Just a super-impressive run by Milwaukee, and I'm very happy for their fans who've waited 50 years for this - hope they enjoy this.
One thing they showed (as well as L.A. last year) is that you can win championships without smallball - if 3-pointers are the most efficient shots, the easiest shots are at the rim and even without being a good shooting team, you could see how their physicality and size won out over more offensively skilled teams over the course of a series.
This X 10. When it matters most, the best shots available are layups and FTs. The reason? The playoffs are officiated much differently in relation to the regular season. Hand-checking is allowed, defenders get away with bumping offensive players off their driving lanes and the refs turn a blind eye to the wrestling that occurs when players are battling for rebounds. The playoffs are a man's game as opposed to a finesse competition.
A high-level quantitative summary:
https://twitter.com/endless_motor/status/1417822492991787010
Long story short - you can be a bad shooting team (the bottom third of playoff teams) and it doesn't matter as long as you win at the rim. I'm generally not a fan of Van Gundy as a broadcaster, but one line he has that I agree with "Playoff analytics are different than regular season analytics"
Of all the stats, the 17/19 from the FT line is the most impressive because he is normally really bad at FTs. Dude was dialed in like few others in the most important moments. Giannis is really impressive.
Lived in Milwaukee briefly, loved the city and happy for the fans. Giannis was on another level today, really a fun game to watch.
Bobby Portis is an easy guy to love - kind of a Rodman type who literally lives for basketball, his teammates, and his fans.
FEAR THE DEER!!!!!!
Was rooting for CP3 but after seeing him walk straight off the court Im not sure what to think.
Pretty cool to see a superstar stay in a smaller market and win a title.
That's a bit unfair. Bucks players were getting mobbed. It's best to congratulate them in the locker room, like Monte Williams (btw what a class act that guy is).
Nice to see a small market win a title in something and this was also a refreshing finals in that it felt void of any of the recent 'super teams'.
Unfortunately I think it is just that same point that made this Finals not do it for me. I know the games were close and exciting, but there was something about it that just didn’t make me care like I usually would.
MKE resident here, was in the Bradley Center for some not-great basketball Giannis' first year (Bucks won more playoff games this year than they did the regular season that year). The shots of the Deer District were insane, and yet not as crazy as the game Giannis had with everybody not name Bobby Portis struggling to get buckets.
I don't have a lifelong connection to this team or city but it was a very cool experience to watch them close out last night against a very good Suns team. Great cast of characters and role players, and I'm happy they got to do it at home with 65,000 just outside the doors.
Final sidenote: for some reason, the 1971 Bucks never got a parade after winning the only NBA championship the city has seen. Can't wait to see them get their victory lap through the city.
Happy for the Bucks, but also happy for me in that I had both the Bucks and Suns bet to win the championship on Fanduel before the 1st round started. Once Milwaukee and Phoenix made it into the finals, it was going to be a good day for me no matter what (although I had Phoenix at +650 and Milwaukee at +380, so I probably was rooting a little harder for a PHX sweep after game 2....)
We're goin' Sizzler.... We're goin Sizzler...
Cool story bro moment. I played high school hoops against Milwaukee GM Jon Horst. I don't know him personally other than playing against him but I've heard nothing but good things from those who do know him. One of my good friends still keeps in pretty regular contact with him. Pretty cool to see a kid from the Thumb of Michigan reach the pinnacle of basketball.