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Tim BontempsESPN
MILWAUKEE – Teams don’t become contenders for the NBA Finals overnight. The same goes for players who become All-Stars and League MVPs. To make that kind of gain, and to achieve that kind of thinner air, takes time and pain, sweat and tears.
For Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the past eight years have seen them transform the Milwaukee Bucks into one of the elite teams in the NBA, and themselves into some of the game’s elite players. weight of all those shared experiences that, with Milwaukee’s season in play on Wednesday night, helped the cornerstones of the Bucks franchise save the day.
Behind Middleton’s 40 points, including 10 consecutive points in the 2:07 final to put the Bucks in the lead for good, and Deandre Ayton’s incredible Antetokounmpo block at the edge to maintain a two-point lead with 74 seconds to go, Milwaukee survived an instant classic in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, winning 109-103 over the visiting Phoenix Suns for even the best of seven series at two games apiece.
“They’ve been here the longest,” Bucks goaltender Jrue Holiday said. “They’ve been through the most together. They’ve endured the most. They’ve been criticized for everything they’ve done here, and they’ve achieved fame as well.
“But they know the pressures that come with it, and they’ve exceeded all of those expectations. For them to be able to perform on every scene, and especially a scene like this, is great to watch and I’m blessed to be a part of it. this one.
“They give us confidence as a team and they carry us like they did tonight.”
There wasn’t much for the Bucks, or their fans, to rely on for much of the game – especially when the Suns opened up a nine-point lead, their biggest of the game, over a Cam Johnson. at 3 points 14 seconds into the fourth quarter.
But after the Bucks slowly knocked down the Suns over the next few minutes – aided, in part, by Suns star Devin Booker getting his fifth foul and being allowed to calm down after his own supernova performance – Antetokounmpo and Middleton wore the Bucks at home, and back in the series.
As is often the case, Antetokounmpo’s moment was the most memorable. With the Bucks leading by two with 1:14 remaining, Booker stepped out of an Ayton screen and returned a perfect lob pass over Antetokounmpo and PJ Tucker’s header to Ayton, who was flashing towards the edge.
When the ball left Booker’s hand, it seemed to everyone Ayton was going to get an easy dunk to tie the game. Instead, Antetokounmpo somehow spun around, jumped off his left foot – the leg he had hypertensive two weeks ago – and jumped over the edge, putting his hand massive on the ball and sending the Bucks back the other way with possession and lead. .
“I thought I was going to get soaked, to be honest with you,” Antetokounmpo said with a smile. “But you know, on your way down, do whatever it takes to win the game. Just put yourself in a position that can win the game.”
His teammates, however, were slightly more complimentary in their praise.
“The honest thought going through my head was, more or less, a bit like the shock and awe when the blockage happened,” Bucks guard Pat Connaughton said.
“I kind of said, in my opinion, this is the best block ever. Obviously we’re a bit biased and you can talk about the LeBron. [James] block [from Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals] as well as. But as for a block where he was covering the pick-and-roll, he had to judge where the pass was, where Ayton was catching it and trying to dunk it, over the box, that’s about as impressive as it gets. “
What Antetokounmpo’s play ultimately did set the stage for Middleton to bring Milwaukee home. After Phoenix forward Jae Crowder made two free throws at 2:30 left to give the Suns a 99-97 lead, Middleton scored the next eight points in the game to put him out of reach. His back-to-back midrange jumpers put the Bucks in the lead for good. And, after the two teams battled with the ball, his layup over Booker with 27.2 seconds left put Milwaukee in the lead 103-99.
That moment left him so exhausted that he literally had to be lifted off the ground by his teammates as the Suns called time out. He then sank four consecutive free throws to officially put the game out of reach. This made him and Antetokounmpo the third group of teammates – with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson with the Los Angeles Lakers, and James and Kyrie Irving with the Cleveland Cavaliers – to each score 40 or more points in games in the even NBA Finals, according to ESPN Stats and Information research.
And it was fitting that they had that kind of night with Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, the legends who teamed up to give Milwaukee their only NBA championship 50 years ago, watching side by side from the seats on the court.
“Everyone is tired,” Middleton said of his state of mind in these late-game moments. “Everyone’s fucked up. You just have to give it your all and leave it all on the pitch.
“We can rest, sleep and receive treatment after the game. But while this game is being played there is no excuse for burnout or something is injured. If you are injured you cannot be there “Down. But that’s all. Give is your all.”
And, for the Bucks, there’s no one they’d rather see with the ball in their hands in these times than Middleton.
“I am proud,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’m very proud. But, like I said, it comes down to trust. I trust him.
“You know, win or lose, that’s fine with me. Usually when you move forward in a game like this, whatever game you play, you want to take it upon yourself. Win or lose, you’re like, ‘ OK, I shot, I lost the match, I won the match. ‘
“But it’s about trusting. I know [my teammates] are going to make the right play and I know they are going to deliver the ball when I’m open. But what [Middleton] done tonight was amazing. “
This kind of trust doesn’t happen overnight. Since Antetokounmpo was drafted with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, and Middleton was robbed from the Detroit Pistons in a trade a few weeks later, the two, and the Bucks, are methodically became kings of the NBA.
It is now their 12th playoff series together, and Wednesday marked the 62nd time they have shared ground together in the playoffs. But that was in 2017, when Middleton – after missing most of the regular season with a serious hamstring injury – played 42 minutes in Game 6 of Milwaukee’s first-round loss of the series to the Toronto Raptors, almost bringing the Bucks back from 25 point down.
After the game, Middleton went to the hospital because he was dehydrated. And, Antetokounmpo said on Monday, that’s when he knew his partnership with Middleton was lucky to be something special.
“Over the years, throughout the trip with him, I kind of got it,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have played so many games together. But there was a specific moment, I think it was in the playoffs against Toronto. We played at home.
“He wasn’t feeling well. But he played the game and he gave everything for the team and for us. You know, that’s when I realized, ‘Yeah, that’s the guy I want to be online with and go through the journey with. ‘”
At that point, he and Middleton had just lost their second first-round playoff series together. It would take them another two years before they even advance to the playoffs for the first time, ultimately losing in six games to those same Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Then came last year’s loss to the Miami Heat in the second round – another disappointing end to the season. But those losses and experiences hardened those Bucks. These experiences helped Antetokounmpo and Middleton score the tying and winning baskets in the last minute of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on the road in Brooklyn against Kevin Durant and the Nets to escape that streak. They helped Middleton take the Bucks to the last two wins they needed in the Eastern Conference Final against the Atlanta Hawks while Antetokounmpo was sidelined with that hypertensive left knee.
And on Wednesday night, they helped Milwaukee stay in those NBA Finals and turn them into a best-of-three affair as the series returns to Phoenix for Game 5 on Saturday night.
“It feels good,” Antetokounmpo said of his victory alongside Middleton. “We’ve done this a few times… we’ve closed so many games.
“But finishing a game like this in the NBA Finals obviously means a lot. It felt good. But we can’t be satisfied.”
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