NBA Finals: Giannis Antetokounmpo says he’s ‘not Michael Jordan’ – but Bucks star is halfway to MJ’s record

We are far from the fear that Giannis Antetokounmpo’s season is over. He’s, in fact, alive and well after the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns 120-100 in a must-see Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, reducing Phoenix’s lead to 2-1 before Game 4 on Wednesday.

I say “up for grabs” because no team in NBA history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series. The Bucks had to have this one, and Antetokounmpo, for the second game in a row, matched the urgency of the situation with a masterful performance, finishing with 41 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. He shot 14 for 23 from the field. Even more impressive, he shot 13 for 17 from the free throw line.

Coupled with his 42-point effort in Game 2, Giannis’ performance on Sunday saw him in a super-elite company as the sixth player to record consecutive 40-point games in the final. The other five are LeBron James (who was the last to do so in 2016, when he scored 41 in Games 5 and 6 against the Warriors), Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West and Rick Barry.

Factor in double-digit bounces, and all names except Shaq and Giannis are crossed off this list.

In the 1993 final against the Suns, Jordan, are you ready for this? – actually put up four consecutive 40-point games. Even Giannis can’t imagine this level of GOAT madness:

Giannis is right. It’s not Michael Jordan. But he’s halfway through MJ’s record with those two back-to-back 40-piece finals, and he could be very close to matching him if Milwaukee is going to win at least one of the next two. The Bucks don’t have as many guns as Phoenix, and their second and third best players – Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday – have been duds throughout the playoffs.

Holiday, who played some big games but mostly struggled in his first playoffs with Milwaukee, came in in Game 3 with 21 points. Middleton scored 18 points. Together, Holiday and Middleton shot 8 for 17 from beyond the arc.

Middleton has yet to do it as a go-scorer if the Bucks are actually going to come back and win this series, but when Giannis plays like that he and Holiday just shoot him well from 3 is a major boost. Another thing I loved about Game 3: Giannis wasn’t the default for head-down crash dummy into a wall controls.

When he got the ball on top of the sideline, he more often went into a dribble transfer or faked a DHO and continued his dribble into the post when he was enjoying his game, attacking the middle of the paint before that. help can come. He was bossy, but not out of control. He only took two 3 points, which is still two too many. He made his free throws. It was a near-perfect Giannis game, and the Bucks are back in the series because of it.