Most of the final 40 minutes and change of the game – during which the Bucks outscored the defending champs by a count of 105-74 – was a highlight reel. Here are 10 of the most satisfying plays. You could easily pick 10 different ones. That is a good thing.
Ten Fun Plays
The first of five (!) steals and 10 (!) deflections by Giannis. There is now quite literally a Hustle section of the box score, and Giannis racked up more than twice as many deflections as anyone else on either team. Also, this was an especially casual one-on-three fastbreak by Giannis, who went around-the-back, almost lost the ball, pump-faked, and finished with the layup.
Michael Beasley assist alert. Beasley did his thing with 17 points in 25 minutes off the bench, but he found Giannis for the jam here. Giannis started with a nice give to Monroe, who kicked it to Beasley, who whipped it to a cutting Giannis. Lovely passing that was indicative of things to come. This gave the Bucks their first lead since 5-4. They would hardly look back.
Giannis posts up and pump-fakes LeBron here, and looks good doing it.
On a night when Giannis tied his career-high with 34 points, he never showed more exuberance on the court than after John Henson finished this and-one. Befitting of a player who has ascended to stardom in full-time team-first mode.
Oh just J.R. Smith saying hello to Jason Terry (unofficial assist) on the bench while his man (Tony Snell) goes in for the dunk. This came out of a timeout.
This happened right after the J.R. play. Almost too much.
This was the final basket before the Cavaliers honestly subbed out their entire lineup at the same time (including four starters). After an and-one finish in the first half, LeBron had flexed and pointed to his bicep. Rightfully so! He is the best player in the world, an indestructible force, and goes to the Finals ever year (including last season, when you may recall that he delivered the greatest Finals performance ever and beat the best regular season team in history). Here though, on Bucks.com, Jabari muscled his way to the basket on LeBron.
Monroe continues his career-best defense and passing this season with a bit of both here. His active hands cause the deflection and steal, and he shows nice awareness with the dish to Parker for the finish on the break. On the previous play, Monroe found Beasley for a dunk. The Bucks were dominant with Monroe and Beasley on the court tonight (each had a +23 differential in 25 minutes).
As the shot goes up, Jabari fights for rebounding position against James Jones, Mike Dunleavy Jr., and Chris Andersen, tips it to himself, and smashes with two hands for the and-one on Birdman – with one second to play in the quarter. This pretty much put the game out of reach.
Thon is now shooting like 1000.0 percent from the field.