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Giannis joins Jordan, Shaq, LeBron in NBA Finals history

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/07/11/giannis-antetokounmpo.jpg"/><figcaption>Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) shoots a layup during the second quarter against the Phoenix Suns during game three of the 2021 NBA Finals at Fiserv Forum. <em>Jeff Hanisch, USA TODAY Sports/Reuters.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo joined an elite list of stars with back-to-back 40-point NBA Finals performances, but the Greek star forward stressed Sunday that &quot;I&#x27;m no Michael Jordan.&quot;</p><p>Antetokounmpo became only the sixth player in NBA Finals history with 40 points in consecutive games, hitting 41 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a 120-100 Bucks victory over Phoenix.</p><p>Milwaukee pulled within 2-1 in the best-of-seven championship series while the 26-year-old Greek forward, who had 42 points in a game-two loss, put himself on a select NBA list.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/12/21/nba-finals-statement-home-win-as-giannis-bucks-dominate-in-game-3">READ: Statement home win as Giannis, Bucks dominate in Game 3</a></li></ul><p>The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player joined Jordan, Jerry West, Shaquille O&#x27;Neal, Rick Barry and LeBron James with consecutive 40-point NBA Finals performances.</p><p>When asked if he would threaten Jordan&#x27;s four 40-point games in a row, Antetokounmpo stressed he wasn&#x27;t Jordan and added, &quot;All I care about right now, it&#x27;s getting one more (win), that&#x27;s all, just take care of business, doing our job.&quot;</p><p>Bucks forward Khris Middleton was not amazed to see Antetokounmpo dominate two weeks after suffering a hyperextended left knee and missing two games.</p><p>&quot;He has been doing this since I&#x27;ve been here,&quot; Middleton said. &quot;Now it&#x27;s on the biggest stage and everybody is getting a chance to see what he goes through, how he&#x27;s hurt and he still finds a way to go out there and compete and be productive and be dominant at the same time.</p><p>&quot;When he&#x27;s rolling like he was these past two games, we know we have to just give him the ball and see what he can do.&quot;</p><p>Bucks reserve Bobby Portis, who excelled when Antetokounmpo went down, said his success is a reward from the &quot;Basketball God&quot; for his work ethic.</p><p>&quot;Giannis is a relentless hard worker and gives his all to the team, and he&#x27;s selfless,&quot; Portis said.</p><p>&quot;When you play like that and you want to win, I think the Basketball God just always rewards you. He never cheats the game. He stays in the gym, he lifts weights hard every day. </p><p>&quot;When you&#x27;re humble and hungry like that, it just always just comes back to you. And for a guy to hyperextend his knee less than two weeks ago, and to come back and do the things he&#x27;s doing, man, I think it just speaks for itself.</p><p>&quot;Whoever gave him the nickname &#x27;Greek Freak&#x27; did a great job. It&#x27;s different how he&#x27;s playing out there and doing all these different things. That&#x27;s just rare. That&#x27;s really special of him.&quot;</p><p>Antetokounmpo recalled how he was fearful his season might be over after his injury earlier this month.</p><p>&quot;My knee was double the size, so a little bit worried but when I got the MRI, they told me I have a chance to come back, even though I&#x27;m not 100 per cent. I was extremely happy,&quot; he recalled.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m going to compete as hard as possible and do the right thing to help my team have the opportunity to win any game we play.&quot;</p><p>Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said the team plays better when Antetokounmpo plays better, no matter what the statistics are.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re at our best when Giannis is at his best,&quot; Budenholzer said. &quot;He&#x27;s a great playmaker, screener, passer and he does so many great things. When he&#x27;s conscious of doing a little bit of everything, he&#x27;s very capable and that&#x27;s when he&#x27;s at his best.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1705636" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>Giannis Antetokounmpo joined an elite list of stars with back-to-back 40-point NBA Finals performances, but the Greek star forward stressed Sunday that "I'm no Michael Jordan."</p>

Giannis Antetokounmpo joined an elite list of stars with back-to-back 40-point NBA Finals performances, but the Greek star forward stressed Sunday that "I'm no Michael Jordan."