The Milwaukee Bucks can clinch a first NBA title since 1971 with victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the Finals on Tuesday, with Giannis Antetokounmpo preaching the importance of a team-first approach and staying in the moment.
Having fallen 2-0 behind in the series with back-to-back defeats in Phoenix, the Bucks are on the cusp of glory having reeled off three successive wins.
Milwaukee clinched a dramatic Game 5 triumph in Phoenix on Saturday, Jrue Holiday combining with Antetokounmpo for the defining play late in the fourth quarter as he stole the ball from Devin Booker and then lofted a pass for the two-time MVP to send down a thunderous dunk.
That has set the stage for the Bucks to end their 50-year wait in front of their home fans, but Antetokounmpo is not focusing on the potential celebrations should the Bucks close out the series.
"It's going to be amazing. Hopefully we can focus what we got to do and be in the present, compete as much as possible, play good basketball and be the team that wins at the end," said Antetokounmpo
"Hopefully we can enjoy it with our family and with the fans and they can enjoy it also. I feel like it's something that you can feel the excitement in the city. The last time we were in the NBA Finals was 1974.
"It's been a while. I'm happy that the fans are enjoying it. There's 20,000 people in the arena, 25,000 people outside the arena. But we got to focus. We got to do our job. Then they can do their job celebrating at the end. But we got to do our job first.
"So we got to be in the present as much as possible. I can't focus on celebrating. I can't focus on that right now because I feel like you get too ahead of yourself. We got to focus. I got to focus right now, and then when the game comes tomorrow, focus on each possession at a time, a possession at a time.
"As I said, play good basketball, compete as hard as possible and put ourselves in a position to be able to win that game. That's all can you ask for. Hopefully we win.
"If we win, great. If we don't, we have one more chance. But if we win, it would be nice to celebrate with the fans inside and outside and with our families, because this is something historical that is happening in the city right now."
While Antetokounmpo is averaging a double-double in the series with 32.2 points and 13 rebounds, Holiday and Khris Middleton have each played a pivotal role for the Bucks.
The Bucks have scored 344 points in the Finals when that trio have been on the court, with images of Antetokounmpo leaning on Holiday or Middleton a frequent feature of this series.
Asked if he has improved at making it a "we not me" journey, Antetokounmpo replied: "Have to. Everybody is a part of this process. I don't think there's been anybody that has gone through this process by himself and go all the way and win the NBA championship.
"We have to do it together. I need Khris to be great, I need Jrue to be great, I need Bobby [Portis], all of those guys to be great.
"I'm tired. I look next to me, Khris is tired and Jrue is tired or whatever the case might be. It's like they're my brothers. That's when you want to hug them, put your arm around them and, like, we got this, we got this together, we got to keep doing this together until the end."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Milwaukee Bucks – Jrue Holiday
All the focus will be on Antetokounmpo but, as he proved in Game 5, Holiday is just as key to the Bucks' hopes.
He is averaging a series-high nine assists per game in the Finals, and his influence on Antetokounmpo is clear.
Antetokounmpo is averaging 41.1 points per 100 possessions with Holiday on the court in the Finals, compared to 38.2 when he is off the floor.
The Finals' top facilitator and top scorer must each be at their best to ensure the Bucks are celebrating come the final buzzer.
Phoenix Suns - Chris Paul
Paul had a double-double in Game 5 with 21 points and 11 assists, but there is evidence to suggest his influence has waned over the course of the series.
He had a plus/minus of -6 on Saturday, the third consecutive game he has finished in the negative column in that regard.
If the Suns are to keep their hopes of a first title alive, they may need a repeat of his 32-point showing from Game 1.
It has been a long two years for the Golden State Warriors since falling to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals, but head coach Steve Kerr is taking an optimistic view of what lies ahead.
Kerr has been busy this summer as an assistant coach for the US Olympic team, but he told The Athletic in an interview at Team USA's camp last week there are positve developments around Klay Thompson and James Wiseman as the pair return from injuries, leaving him "really excited" to get going again.
Thompson has not played for the Warriors since tearing his ACL in the decisive Game 6 against the Raptors in June 2019, rehabbing from that injury only to tear his Achilles tendon in a pickup game last November.
The five-time All-Star is not back to full speed yet, but he is getting close.
"He’s still aways away from actually playing basketball in a 5-on-5 setting," Kerr said. "But there’s a big step with the Achilles when you can actually start running again. It’s a huge psychological boost. The rest of the body gets going, you start feeling the soreness and aches and pains that actually feel good when you’ve been out for a while. He’s at that point."
Wiseman, the second overall pick in last summer's NBA Draft, played in only 39 games as a rookie and saw his season end in mid-April due to a torn meniscus, but Kerr said the 20-year-old is "right on schedule" to be ready for the start of training camp.
Their injuries and other issues made last season a struggle for Golden State despite an MVP-caliber campaign from Stephen Curry, who set career highs with 32 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and willed the Warriors into a shot at the postseason.
After winning seven of their last nine regular-season games to make the play-in tournament, the Warriors dropped both games there and failed to advance, but plenty of positives have emerged heading toward next year -- not least of which is Golden State holding two of the top 14 picks in the upcoming draft.
"I'm really excited. I feel like we got our mojo back at the end of the year," Kerr said. "The offseason has been productive in terms of Klay now breaking through. He’s on the court, he’s running, he’s feeling really good. I talked to him last week. He’s just in a completely different mindset. The light’s at the end of the tunnel.
"Steph (Curry) and Draymond (Green) are both in a great place after that close to the season, feeling like they are on top of their games.
"Andrew (Wiggins) had a really good season for us. Jordan Poole emerged. Juan (Toscano-Anderson) has turned himself into a rotation player, perfect for our style.
"Now we get a training camp with James, a whole season of development, plus seven and 14 in a deep draft."
In search of his first championship in his 16th NBA season, Chris Paul has written a mantra on his shoes throughout the playoffs.
"Can't give up now" has become a rallying cry for Phoenix Suns fans and the sentiment has never been more appropriate than it is now.
Tuesday's Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks will be the Suns' 22nd playoff game this season, and it will be the first in which they have faced elimination.
"It's for real," Paul told reporters Monday. "It's no looking back now. We got to come out, be ready to play and it's either win or go home.
"Coach [Monty Williams] has said all season long, everything you want is on the other side of hard, and it doesn't get any harder than this.
"So we know that this is a must-win game for us. Nothing more than that. Now we got to hoop."
The Suns have done just that throughout their playoff run, winning nine in a row across three series at one point.
They have now dropped three straight games for only the second time this season, the other skid coming in late January.
Despite those setbacks after taking a 2-0 series lead, multiple Phoenix players spoke Monday about embracing the challenge.
Suns forward Jae Crowder was in the same position as a member of the Miami Heat last season, and although they lost Game 6 and the Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers, he will take what he remembers from that disappointment into Tuesday's game.
"As a player, it brings out a sense of desperation," he said. "It brings out a sense of urgency. It brings a sense of collectiveness within your group, knowing what you're battling and knowing what you're going up against.
"I just feel like you have to continue to fight each and every position. You have to take it a possession at a time. It's a dogfight. I've been on both sides of it. I've tried to close out teams and I know how hard it is.
"It's just a sense of desperation on our end, a sense of just collectively get the job done by any means, have a positive mindset and just have a mindset of just get the job done by any means necessary, and that's each and every possession, just giving it your all, selling out each and every possession for your team and for your team-mates."
With no margin for error, the Suns remain appreciative of the opportunity they have, particularly on the heels of a 34-39 campaign in 2019-20.
"It's definitely exciting," said Paul. "Something that Coach and everybody has been saying: If you went to the beginning of the season and said we had a chance to be where we are right now, would you take it? Absolutely. Absolutely.
"And we get a chance to determine the outcome. It's not like the game is going to be simulated or somebody else got to play. We get a chance. We control our own destiny."
Every Milwaukee Bucks player knows what is at stake Tuesday in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns.
Leading the series 3-2, a win at home would give the Bucks their second NBA championship and first since 1971, the franchise's third season of existence.
Beyond potentially ending that half-century wait for their fans, none of the Bucks' players has ever won a title.
The key to completing such a monumental achievement for player, team and community alike?
Do whatever you can to stay calm and focussed, says Giannis Antetokounmpo, who acknowledged that is far easier said than done.
"It's hard. It's hard, man, it's hard," the Bucks' star told reporters Monday. "Because you work so hard to be in that moment, which is tomorrow. It's hard not to get ahead of yourself. But this is the time that you got to be the most disciplined.
"That's what I'm going to try to do. I'm going to try to be as disciplined as possible. Don't get too excited. Don't get too pumped up for the game. None of that. I can't play the game right now. ...
"Right now, there's nothing I can do about that. So I don't even try to think about that. But it's very hard not to. Sometimes you sleep and you're dreaming about the game.
"But this is the time that we have to be disciplined individually. ... We cannot worry about having plans of celebrating. None of that, until it's done. And that is the mindset I'm going to have until tomorrow."
It helps that Antetokounmpo takes the same approach into every game, trying to break it down mentally into one possession and then the next so he is not overwhelmed by the bigger picture.
At this stage, he has enough confidence in himself and his team-mates to believe in their ability to come through at the moment it matters most.
"You have to be in the present," he said. "Once that present comes, you'll know what it takes to be you successful. But right now, you don't know what it's going to take.
"It might be a defensive stop. It might be Jrue [Holiday] coming and saving the day again. It might be Khris [Middleton] getting points. It might be me blocking a shot. You don't know what it's going to take.
"But I know that we have to be in the present. You have to enjoy it. We have to compete. For now, that's the three things I know.
"Once the game starts, every possession is going to be different and we're going to figure out what it takes to win the game."
That mindset stretches beyond the Greek star. Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer said that type of attitude across the board has been critical to the Bucks' success so far.
"It's the maturity of the group, the intelligence of it. I think it comes through," he said. "They understand that we have to keep our focus. We have to be prepared. We have to do the things that go into winning, the competitiveness of those moments, those opportunities to compete. That's all that matters.
"Whether you're down, you're up, I think you go back to your competitive spirit. You draw on that. That's how this team is built, so they got to continue to do that."
Devin Booker reflected on a tough loss for the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, admitting they "let it go" against the Milwaukee Bucks after making a great start.
After suffering straight losses on the road, the red-hot Suns scored 37 points in the opening quarter on Saturday, landing 14 of their 19 attempts from the field.
However, trailing by 16 after one, the Bucks hit back in emphatic fashion to seize control. They had 43 in the second and then 36 in the third, meaning they led the pivotal contest 100-90 going into the final quarter.
The Suns were unable to close the gap down the stretch, a 123-119 defeat meaning Milwaukee holds a 3-2 lead in the series - they can clinch a first NBA title for the franchise since 1971 at home on Tuesday.
"It was tough. We came out and did what we intended to do, get off to a great start and we let it go," Booker, who finished with 40 points, told the media.
"They stayed resilient and they kept playing through. So, tough loss for us."
It was a second successive 40-point outing for Booker, who becomes the first player in NBA Finals history to lose back-to-back games despite reaching that mark. He is one of just five to have that happen in a playoff series, too.
The Suns now find themselves in a win-at-all-costs scenario in the series, a situation they have not faced previously during their impressive postseason run.
"We got to win one game to put them back on the plane. That's it. And you have to have that determination that you're willing to do whatever it takes to put them back on the plane," Phoenix head coach Monty Williams said.
"So, we can call it what we want to, mental toughness, all of that stuff, but it's going to be needed and our guys are capable of doing it. This is our first time in this position and we can do it."
Booker had the ball with the Suns down by one in the closing seconds, only for Jrue Holiday to steal possession. The Bucks guard then set up Giannis Antetokounmpo for a dunk with an alley-oop pass at the other end of the court, during which the two-time MVP was fouled.
The three-point play clinched the result in Milwaukee's favour, though Williams was more concerned by the problems his team had defensively in both the second and third quarters.
"You give up 79 points and the reasoning behind it, I got to look at the film to see it, but we just didn't have the same energy that we had in the first and fourth," he told the media.
"You look at the numbers, in the first and fourth, they have 44 points.
"So, whether it's schematics or just outright grit and toughness during those moments, to just get a stop, we couldn't get any consecutive stops in the second and the third.
"That ended up being the, not the difference, but it just put us in a hole and we felt, I felt like we were playing from behind for a long, long time."
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the centerpiece and Khris Middleton was coming off a career game, but Jrue Holiday made the biggest plays for the Milwaukee Bucks in their pivotal Game 5 win.
Bouncing back from a brutal shooting performance in Game 4, Milwaukee's point guard led the way on both ends of the court in Saturday's 123-119 win over the Phoenix Suns that left the Bucks one win away from an NBA title.
Holiday shook off a four-for-20 night the previous time out to serve as the catalyst in the second quarter that broke the game open for Milwaukee, and his steal and pass in the final minute sealed a pivotal win.
The latter play was the talk of the game afterward, as team-mates marveled at Holiday's move to knock the ball away from Devin Booker and try an audacious alley-oop feed to Antetokounmpo with 13.5 seconds remaining to stretch a one-point Milwaukee lead to three.
The Milwaukee Bucks withstood a scorching start by the Phoenix Suns before their three stars carried them to a 123-119 road victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, putting them one win away from their first championship in 50 years.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points, Khris Middleton had 29 and Jrue Holiday 27 in an entertaining to overcome a 40-point effort by Suns star Devin Booker and quiet the raucous Phoenix crowd.
Like their fans, the Suns came out hot. Booker attempted Phoenix's first two shots of the game and missed both, but the Suns made 11 in a row from the field after that and held a 16-point lead after the first quarter.
Their hot hand was short-lived, though, as the Bucks exploded for a 25-6 run and outscored the Suns 43-24 in the second quarter to take a 64-61 lead at the break.
Milwaukee appeared on the verge of running away with the game, extending the lead to as many as 14 early in the fourth quarter before the Suns staged a late rally.
Phoenix trimmed the deficit to three on a Booker three-pointer with 1:24 to play and Chris Paul fouled Antetokounmpo the next time down the court, forcing him to his least comfortable spot on the court: the free-throw line, where he would make just four of 11 Saturday.
The Greek star missed both free throws and Paul answered with a driving layup to bring the Suns within one with 56.6 seconds remaining.
Antetokounmpo redeemed himself moments later, running the floor after Holiday stole the ball from Booker to finish an alley-oop dunk that put Milwaukee's lead back at three.
After missing yet another free throw, Antetokounmpo tipped the rebound back out to Middleton, who was fouled and broke the Bucks' free-throw drought for a four-point advantage with 9.8 seconds remaining.
That proved to be enough as Booker missed a jumper with five seconds to play and Phoenix could not get off another shot.
According to Stats Perform, the Bucks are just the fourth team in NBA history to win Games 3 through 5 after dropping the first two games of the NBA Finals.
The 2006 Miami Heat were the last to do it and ended up closing out the series against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6.
Suns at Bucks
The Bucks can claim their first NBA title since 1971 with a win in Game 6 Tuesday in Milwaukee.
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