The Greek Freak: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 50-Point Performance Ends Milwaukee Bucks’ 50-Year NBA Title Drought

Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped a 50-point performance during the 2021 NBA Finals Game 6 against the Phoenix Suns, 105-98, on Tuesday night, July 20, ending the 50-year title drought of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's 50 points lead

According to basketball-reference.com, the Greek Freak's 50-point performance was tied as the sixth-highest scoring performance in Finals history. Giannis Antetokounmpo tied with basketball legend Bob Pettit, who scored the same points in the 1957 NBA Finals.

2021 NBA Finals

The Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns to get its first championship since 1971 when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson propelled the Bucks over the Baltimore Bullets.

The two-time MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, carried the Milwaukee Bucks in a career-defining effort. Named Finals MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points, grabbed 14 rebounds with five blocks, denying the Suns on a possible do-or-die Game 7.

Almost half of the team's scoring production came from the Greek Freak. Behind the magic number "50" was Giannis' 16-for-25 shooting from the field, which was an incredible shooting percentage.

Aside from his made shots in the field, the notoriously below-average shooter in the charity stripe sank 17-for-19 of foul shots in the free-throw line.

In the final three games of the series, which all ended down the wire, the Bucks proved to be the more poised team. The Milwaukee squad showed their composure in the final minutes of their last four games, climbing back from a 0-2 hole in the Finals series.

The Milwaukee Bucks was the fifth NBA team in 36 times to lose the first two games of a Finals series and ended up with the title.

After winning the Finals MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo joined an elite company, with Chicago Bulls Hall of Famer Michael Jordan as the only player in NBA history to win MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Finals MVP, and All-Star Game MVP, USA Today reported.

Game 6 Win for Milwaukee Bucks

Aside from the stellar performance of Giannis Antetokounmpo, not a lot of plays would be remembered by the Milwaukee Bucks' fans who witnessed Game 6 inside the Fiserv Forum.

The rough Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals started with turnovers and progressed with a lot. Experts noted that the Bucks' fans would simply remember the joy of winning a title and career-defining performance from two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Greek Freak attacked the basket early in the ball despite some rugged plays. Antetokounmpo outshined the Suns to establish an early lead in Game 6.

However, off the bench point guard Cam Payne ignited the Suns' offense in the opening minutes. Payne replaced Suns' floor general Chris Paul, whose looking for rhythm in his shots, but when the game progressed, Paul took over and regained the lead and orchestrated a Suns scoring run.

After three quarters, the game tied with 77-77 points apiece. However, Milwaukee outscored the Phoenix Suns 28-21 in the final quarter.

Khris Middleton's mid-range jumper with 56.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave the Bucks a commanding 102-96 lead. Since the shot of Middleton, the Bucks just burned the remaining time in the clock and waited for the confetti to go down.

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Written by: Jess Smith

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