Milwaukee--- When Giannis Antetokounmpo hit the court only two weeks ago with a serious knee injury, there was no guarantee he would return this season.
Maybe, he is afraid that he may not miss even a year.
Antetokounmpo refused to stay down.
These won't be the Milwaukee Bucks either.
Antetokounmpo had 41 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in the return of the NBA Finals in Milwaukee, and the Bucks beat the Phoenix 120-100 on Sunday night, giving the Suns a 2-1 lead.
"We knew what kind of game it was going to be," Antetokounmpo said. "We knew you were in the hole if we lost the game."
Instead, the boxes began to climb out of one.
The first NBA Finals game in Milwaukee since 1974 went into a romp for the home team, with Antetokounmpo and the big Bucks thrashing the Little Sons to the tune of a 20-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Game 4 is Wednesday night, after the series is guaranteed to return to Phoenix.
"I said it after the last game. This team is not going to give up. They will keep playing anyway," said Sons star Devin Booker. So we have to try the same thing we did in the first two games and I think That we'll be in a good position."
Antetokounmpo, who missed the final two games of the Eastern Conference Finals due to a hyperextended left knee and was in no sure position to be ready to start the series, lost his 42-point, 12-point finish in Game 2. The rebound performance followed. Again - even doing his free throws this time.
In front of his own fans and freed from the loud counts he heard on the street, Antetokounmpo went 13 out of 17 in line. With two straight 40-point games in the NBA Finals, he is halfway to Michael Jordan's record - set against the Suns.
Chris Paul had 19 points and nine assists, but the Sons got nothing from their star backcourt mate. Booker took 3 wickets for 14 runs, scoring only 10 points.
Jew Holiday returned from two poor games in Phoenix with five 3-pointers and 21 points to allow the Bucks to get back on track, overcoming a 2-0 deficit already in the postseason. Khris Middleton added 18.
"We all hate to lose and we know the end goal," Holiday said.
Fans chanted their "Bucks in 6! Bucks in 6!" The benches were empty as Milwaukee began to go away in the first half and then with the final minutes.
The Bucks want their second NBA title and haven't played one in 47 years. He took control of the game by beating Phoenix 30-9 in the final nine minutes of the second quarter, then finished the third 16-0.
Fans began to make their way into the Deer District outside the arena in the middle of the afternoon, with so many fans decked out in the green that Fisher Forum felt like Fisher Forest.
They weren't as happy as they wanted early on after a strong start by the Sons, who took 12 points from Deandre Ayton in the opening period. But Ayton was troubled by a foul and the Bucks soon ran away and kept going right.
Antetokounmpo had seven straight points and scored 9–0 in the second to give Milwaukee a six-point lead, and after Phoenix scored four straight, the Bucks again scored 16–3.
Bobby Portis had the last two baskets in the half, ending a very quick break with a dunk for one of them, and it was 60-45 at the break.
The lead was 13 with less than eight minutes left in the third when Cam Johnson took a pass near midcourt with an open path to the basket. pj Tucker tried to step up, but it was too late, and Johnson fouled and threw him down.
It opened a 14-5 run which cut it to 74-70 and it looked like the Sons were back in the game. Just as quickly, they were out of it again.
Holiday scored two 3-pointers in the next minute and Milwaukee pushed the lead back to nine, and by the end of the third it had increased to 98–76.
The Bucks, who lost the first two games against Brooklyn in the second round, avoided falling into the hole 3–0, leaving no NBA team to survive.
He restricted the Suns to nine 3-pointers after Phoenix hit 20 in their Game 2 win.
Ayton and Jay Crowder each had 18 points for the Suns. But Michal Bridges, who had a career playoff-high 27 in Game 2, took only four shots and scored four points.
Tip-ins
Sons: Torrey Craig had two points in 15 minutes after injuring his right knee in Game 2. He came on awkwardly after hissing to save a poor pass from Paul which went out of bounds in the second quarter. ... Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin's former college player of the year, had six points after going scoreless in two games in Phoenix.
Bucks: Antetokounmpo had his 11th game with 30 points and 10 rebounds, the most passes by a Bucks player in a postseason to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1974. Only Shaquille O'Neill (13, 2000) and Elgin Baylor (12, 1962) had more. ... The Bucks said the Deer District had 25,000 fans. ... Portis and Brooke Lopez each scored 11 points.
everyone in the family
In his second season as coach, Monty Williams said he has received text messages from Steve Nash and others from the Sons' past as he tries to lead the organization to its first title.
"It's been great because I'm new to it and they've embraced me like I've been in it for a long time, but it's not really been two years yet," Williams said. "So the way he's hugged me is great."