Milwaukee wins first NBA title since 1971
The Milwaukee Bucks, powered by a masterpiece from Greek forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, ended their 50-year wait for a second NBA championship with a 105-98 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
With the victory, the small-market Bucks clinched the NBA Finals 4-2 and became only the fifth team to win the best-of-seven championship series after losing the first two games.
Antetokounmpo was named most valuable player of the series, making him only the fifth international winner, after scoring a playoff career-high 50 points in the clinching game that will surely soothe the Bucks’ recent history of playoff letdowns.
“This is a feeling, like this is an addictive feeling,” Antetokounmpo, who was born in Greece to Nigerian parents, told reporters.
“I love playing in the playoffs. I love playing in the Finals. This is the moments I want to chase. I want the team to build off this and hopefully we can do it again.”
Phoenix overcame a slow start and led by as many as seven points early in the third quarter but could not contain the dominant and determined Antetokounmpo down the stretch.
Suns guard Chris Paul had a team-high 26 points.
For Phoenix, who were seeking their first championship in the team’s 53-year existence, the defeat marked the first time all season they have lost four consecutive games.
Unlike last year’s NBA Finals when the celebratory screams of the Los Angeles Lakers echoed across an arena void of fans due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bucks’ win kicked off a wild party for both a capacity crowd of 17,000 inside and the 65,000 supporters who attended a watch party outside the arena.
“We made it, we crowned a champion,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said during the trophy presentation.
“I have to say, playing through a pandemic required enormous resilience from all 30 teams. Thank you to every team and every player in the league for a tremendous season.”
SHAKY START
Both teams got off to a shaky start that saw poor shooting on both ends of the court and plenty of turnovers but Milwaukee, powered by Antetokounmpo, led 29-16 after the first quarter.
Phoenix, facing elimination for the first time in the 2021 playoffs, shook off their lowest-scoring first quarter of the postseason as they turned up the defense while Paul led the offense and the Suns took a 47-42 lead into the half.
The Suns opened up a seven-point lead early in the third quarter but the Bucks responded with a 16-6 run that put them back in front. From there the teams went back and forth and took a 77-77 tie into the final quarter.
But Milwaukee, whose only other championship was a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in 1971, never trailed the rest of the way as Antetokounmpo took over on the offensive end to deny the Suns’ a chance to host a decisive seventh game.
“Everybody in that locker room knows we had enough, but it wasn’t enough,” Paul told reporters.
“So, we got to figure it out. I think for me I just look at myself and figure out how can I get better, what I could have done more and make sure I come back next season ready to do it again.”
(责任编辑:关于我们)
-
Echo Dot (5th gen) deal — get it for $29.99 at Amazon
GET $20 OFF:As of Aug. 23, you can get an Echo Dot (5th gen) for $29.99 at Amazon, down from $49.99. ...[详细] -
扬翔秀博基因邀您关注2023中国种猪精液大赛!_南方+_南方plus世界养猪看中国,中国种猪看广东!作为国内养猪业最知名的展会之一,第五十届养猪产业大会广州)将于2023年12月11-13日,在农业农 ...[详细]
-
四川农业大学的学生填写登记表。学生进行血样采集。【新闻链接】我国目前需要造血干细胞移植的患者将近百万人,仅白血病患者每年就新增四万人以上,想要彻底摆脱死神的折磨,这些白血病患者必须要经过造血干细胞移植 ...[详细]
-
育种谋新篇,数字创未来,2023华南畜禽种业论坛盛大召开_南方+_南方plus聚焦数字化育种,推动畜禽种业创新发展。11月24-26日,2023华南畜禽种业论坛-数字化育种,在广州召开,育种行业权威专 ...[详细]
-
Input devices like keyboards have a key role in the computing and gaming landscape, so the guts of t ...[详细]
-
柑沁园:聚焦道地陈皮,融合创新药食茶健 | 第六届新会陈皮文化节⑬_南方+_南方plus“文化节这几天我们柑园、加工厂对接了一波又一波的客人,现场展销情况也不错。”江门市新会区柑沁园陈皮茶业有限公司下 ...[详细]
-
“干细胞科普知识讲座”公益活动现场11月24日,四川省干细胞库、成都市干细胞科普教育基地联合开展的“干细胞科普知识讲座”公益活动走进我市小学校园。当天,成都市干细胞科普教育基地的干细胞科普专家围绕“干 ...[详细]
-
11 月9 日,市地税局和建设银行雅安分行相关负责人带队对取得贷款的企业——太时生物科技有限公司进行了回访。雅安日报/北纬网讯11月9日,记者从市地税局获悉,截至今年9月底,我市税务机关通过“银税互动 ...[详细]
-
Scientists discover where the huge dinosaur
A menacing asteroid, some six miles wide, triggered Earth's last mass extinction. Now, scientists ha ...[详细] -
市民买完水果后,使用工银二维码支付“只要顾客手中有一部智能手机,即使没带一分钱,照样也能购物。”市区一水果店工作人员说,这样的购物方式更加便捷。以前顾客到店里买水果,几元到几百元不等,找零找现太麻烦。 ...[详细]