Giannis Antetokounmpo made this incredible dunk during the NBA Finals in 2021 against the Phoenix Suns that sealed their win in game 5.
The Milwaukee Bucks were crowned the NBA champions in 2021. They had defeated the Phoenix Suns, who posed a great challenge for them. It was a great triumph by the Bucks, considering the circumstances that they found themselves in.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had missed the Eastern Conference Finals due to an injury, and the Bucks’ fans were worried that they were going to miss their chance of winning the championship.
However, that wasn’t the case as Giannis came back to play in the finals. After the first two games in the Finals, the Phoenix Suns led 2-0, and people thought that the Suns were going to win it all. Giannis and the Bucks had different ideas. They went on to win the next four games and won the series by a score of 4-2.
The biggest moment of the series was in Game 5, back in Phoenix. Milwaukee led at the end of the game when Jrue Holiday stole the ball from Devin Booker and threw an alley-oop pass to Giannis, who then dunked it.
It was arguably the best dunk in Finals history. That dunk sealed the deal for the Bucks in that game at the home of Phoenix. Later, the Milwaukee Bucks took care of business at home, were crowned the NBA Champions, and made history.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was crowned as the Finals MVP
Despite continuing to play with an injury, Giannis Antetokounmpo won the Finals MVP award and showed everyone that he is capable of leading his team in the postseason as well. Since then, no one questions Giannis’ ability to perform in the postseason.
The Milwaukee Bucks had been sweeping the league in the regular season for several years prior to capturing the title. They did, however, endure repeated heartbreaks in the postseason for many years.
During that time, Giannis earned two consecutive MVP awards, but he wasn’t able to give his all during the playoffs. The other teams implied a wall against him in the paint prevented him from scoring, which is why.
Jrue Holiday’s inclusion was vital for the Bucks. He is one of the league’s finest defenders, and when it counted most, he made a significant offensive contribution as well. Giannis has surprised many by doing what he has in the league thus far. Even though he is still relatively young, he has received practically every individual honor.
He might currently be the finest player in the entire globe. Khris Middleton’s injury during the playoffs prevented him from winning back-to-back titles, but he could have done so easily.
The story could have been very different for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021
Nobody can forget the epic second-round series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets in the 2021 playoffs. The Nets were absolutely dominating the Bucks and had destroyed them in the first two games.
Injuries to James Harden and Kyrie Irving tilted the momentum toward the Bucks. Even though Kevin Durant was playing really well, he just fell short at the very last moment.
KD was very close to taking the Nets to the ECF by himself, but an extra inch of the shoe stopped it. Luck was in favor of the Bucks, and they were able to take out the Brooklyn Nets.
The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t look back after that and continued their dominance. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton stepped up big time during the ECF when the Bucks were without Giannis and were able to handle business against the Atlanta Hawks.
Giannis then returned, and along with Jrue and Middleton, they closed out the Phoenix Suns. It was a remarkable run for the Milwaukee Bucks, but at the end of the day, it was all due to that extra inch in those shoes of Kevin Durant. People would have viewed Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks very differently had they not won that series against the Nets.
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