Giannis with back-to-back 40-point games to make it a 2-1 series in the Finals

2021-07-12T04:36:27+00:00 2021-07-12T05:16:42+00:00.

Aris Barkas

12/Jul/21 04:36

Eurohoops.net

Giannis Antetokounmpo had one more stellar night as the Bucks got their first win in the 2021 NBA Finals

By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net

With the series going back to Milwaukee and Giannis Antetokounmpo staying in attack mode like in Game 2, things were easy for the home side. The Milwaukee Bucks got the 120-100 win over the Phoenix Suns, cutting their lead to 2-1 in the NBA Finals.

It was a totally different game compared to the first two contests in Arizona, with the Greek Freak getting back-to-back 40-point games in the Finals and the Bucks dominating the second half. Giannis registered 41 points, getting 34 of them before the last quarter. He also had 13 rebounds and six assists, while making 13/17 free throws.

He is just the second player in NBA Finals history with 40 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back games, joining Shaquille O’Neal who did it in 2000.

Jrue Holiday had his first good game in the series with 21 points and nine assists, while Khris Middleton added 18 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

For the losing side, Chris Paul had 19 points and nine assists. Devin Booker was limited to 10 points and 3/14 FG.

The Bucks ended the first half with a 30-9 run and a 60-45 lead. The Suns reacted and made a 4-point game (74-70), but the Bucks finished the third period with a 16-0 run to get a 22-point advantage (98-76). Τhey even led by 25 (101-76) extending their run to 19-0 at the start of the last quarter.

The Bucks had 20/26 FT in total, while the Suns 11/16 and Suns coach Monty Williams reacted in the press conference when asked about those numbers.

“I’m not going to get into publicly complaining about fouls … but we had 16 free throws tonight. One guy had 17”, he said referring to Giannis.

Photo credit: GettyImages

×