The Milwaukee Bucks have won the NBA championship for the first time in 50 years by pocketing Game 6 of the NBA Finals over the Phoenix Suns, 105-98, to take a four-game lead in the series.
With home-court advantage, Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ rising star and two-time league most valuable player, guided the team to victory with his scoring and defensive dominance. With 50 points, he accounted for nearly half of his team’s total.
The opening quarter was dominated by Milwaukee. However, the Suns, led by experienced NBA all-star Chris Paul, rallied. In the second quarter, the Suns outscored the Bucks 31-13, giving Phoenix the lead at halftime.
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks came out of halftime determined not to let the title slip away. He scored 20 points in the third quarter, and the teams were deadlocked at 77-77 going into the fourth.
After guiding the Milwaukee Bucks to their first championship since the ’70s in a six-game series victory over Chris Paul and Devin Booker’s Suns, Antetokounmpo was named NBA Finals MVP, becoming the youngest player to do so since Kawhi Leonard who won Finals MVP at the age of 22 in 2014. Giannis, in his first Finals appearance, is averaging 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, and five assists per game.
Furthermore, since blocks were first recorded in 1974, Antetokounmpo was the first player to have at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a Finals game. In the championship round, he became the seventh player to score 50 or more points.
Alongside Giannis, Khris Middleton led the team with 17 points, while Bobby Portis finished with 16. Chris Paul scored 26 points to lead the Phoenix Suns.
The last time the Bucks won the Larry O’Brien Trophy was in 1971, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leading the team, who just joined the NBA for the third time. They won all four games against the Baltimore Bullets, including the last game on the road.