Bucks Win NBA Championship

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and had five blocked shots as the Milwaukee Bucks overcame a stubborn Phoenix Suns team 105-98 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, winning the series 4-2 for the Bucks first NBA title in 50 years.

Antetokounmpo had one of the greatest single game performances in the history of the Finals. Even his free throw shooting, which has been a problem in his career, was on the mark in this game, as he made 17 of 19 from the line. Giannis had a terrific Finals. In doing so, he not only got to hoist the Larry O’Brien NBA Champions’ Trophy, he also was the unanimous pick for the Bill Russell Trophy for Finals MVP.

The Bucks were down 2-0 in the Finals, as they were in their Eastern Conference semi final series with Brooklyn. In both cases, they stormed back to win, although it took seven games with Brooklyn. In the Finals, the Bucks won four in a row and fulfilled the “Bucks in 6” prophecy.

And so ends the 2020-21 NBA season. Delayed and shortened by 10 games due to Covid, the playoffs were exciting as they always are, despite no LeBron, no L.A. Lakers, no Brooklyn Nets, no super teams. Instead, it was matchup of two teams that both entered the league in the 1968-69 season and had just one NBA champion combined, Milwaukee in 1970-71. Each team was playing in only its third NBA Finals; it was Milwaukee’s first trip since 1974 and Phoenix’s first since 1993. It was good for the NBA to have a couple of teams that hadn’t made it in for a long time competing for the title, and if anyone in the national media (I’m looking at your, Stephen A. Smith of ESPN) would doubt this, then they should look at the celebration that occurred in the Deer District outside of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum after the victory.