{"id":592014,"date":"2021-07-15T11:51:05","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T15:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=592014"},"modified":"2021-07-15T11:51:08","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T15:51:08","slug":"giannis-antetokounmpos-block-khris-middletons-heroics-even-nba-finals-at-two-games-apiece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/giannis-antetokounmpos-block-khris-middletons-heroics-even-nba-finals-at-two-games-apiece\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s Block, Khris Middleton\u2019s Heroics Even NBA Finals at Two Games Apiece"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgiannis-antetokounmpos-block-khris-middletons-heroics-even-nba-finals-at-two-games-apiece%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=592014&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1328782816.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Let\u2019s save the absurdity that is NBA officiating for another article. It\u2019s not the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Now is the time to appreciate the joy and pain, the ups and downs, the massive swings of emotion that is playoff basketball.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns finally gave us the classic we\u2019ve been hoping for. The two franchises \u2014 one looking for their first championship, the other searching for their first since 1971 \u2014 took it down to the wire Wednesday night, as Milwaukee tied the series at two games apiece.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The 109-103 victory for the Bucks sends the series back to Phoenix for game five Saturday night. After three games, the series appeared to be the sleeper many expected. With the NBA playoffs marred by a wild number of injuries to superstars, the small market Finals matchup didn\u2019t have nearly the intrigue that NBA fans hoped for coming off a regular season unlike any other.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Suns won both games at home by double digits, and the Chris Paul coronation as arguably the greatest point guard of all time was underway.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But this is the NBA Finals and a series can turn on a dime, especially when the officials swallow their whistles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Devin Booker bounced back from a brutal game three and poured in 42 points, but the only other Phoenix starters to score in double figures were Paul (10) and Jae Crowder (15), as the Suns stalled late in the fourth.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Booker made history Wednesday night \u2014 passing Rick Barry and Julius Irving for the most points scored in his first postseason experience \u2014 but his numbers won\u2019t be remembered if the Suns don\u2019t get it together soon.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter at all,\u201d Booker <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/2708142\/2021\/07\/15\/devin-booker-was-incredible-in-game-4-and-the-suns-failed-to-capitalize\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> after the game when asked about his performance. \u201cI said that after last game too when I struggled shooting it. The main objective is to win the game. So anything that goes on throughout the game, it doesn\u2019t matter, for real.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With 2:30 remaining in the fourth quarter Phoenix clung to a 99-97 lead, but Khris Middleton scored 10 straight points for Milwaukee from the free-throw line and with an array of mid-range jumpers. He\u2019d finish with 40 points on 15-33 shooting, finally providing the end-of-game heroics Milwaukee so desperately needs.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cEverybody\u2019s tired,\u201d Middleton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/31820459\/khris-middleton-giannis-antetokounmpo-lead-milwaukee-bucks-critical-game-4-win-phoenix-suns-clutch-performances-stretch\">said<\/a>. \u201cEverybody\u2019s banged up. You just have to give it your all and leave it all on the court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe can rest and sleep and get treatment after the game. But while that game is being played, there\u2019s no excuses of exhaustion or something is hurt. If you\u2019re hurt, you can\u2019t be out there. But that\u2019s all. Give it your all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In between Middleton\u2019s heroics, was the play that left everyone in awe, and potentially saved Milwaukee\u2019s hopes of bringing a second championship home to the city.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With 1:14 left on the clock, and the Bucks up two, Giannis <\/span><span>Antetokounmpo made a hustle play reminiscent of LeBron James\u2019 chasedown block in game seven of the 2016 NBA Finals.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Booker came off an Ayton screen, throwing a lob to Ayton that looked to be a sure dunk. Somehow, Antetokounmpo recovered, blocking the dunk attempt and preserving the Bucks\u2019s two-point lead, and potentially their championship aspirations.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"4.9108910891089\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CLUTCH BLOCK BY GIANNIS \ud83d\ude31 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jwB0b75o65\">pic.twitter.com\/jwB0b75o65<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsCenter\/status\/1415514487445020672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cThe honest thought that was going through my head was, more or less, kind of like shock and awe when the block happened,\u201d Pat Connaughton of the Bucks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/31820459\/khris-middleton-giannis-antetokounmpo-lead-milwaukee-bucks-critical-game-4-win-phoenix-suns-clutch-performances-stretch\">said<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI kind of said, in my opinion, it\u2019s the best block of all time. Obviously, we\u2019re a little biased, and you can talk about the LeBron [James] block [from Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals], as well. But as far as a block where he was covering the pick-and-roll, he had to judge where the pass was, where Ayton was catching it, and trying to dunk it, above the box, it\u2019s about as impressive as you can get.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Connaughton made a huge play of his own, knocking down a three with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter to give Milwaukee its first lead of the fourth quarter.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Lost in the thrilling finish were the struggles of Paul. His turnover with 32.1 seconds left in the fourth put the game on ice for Milwaukee, and his health will be a major topic for the remainder of the series.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf we take care of the ball and cut out five of those turnovers, (Booker) probably ends up with 50 tonight,\u201d Williams <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/2708142\/2021\/07\/15\/devin-booker-was-incredible-in-game-4-and-the-suns-failed-to-capitalize\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cThat\u2019s the way I look at it. \u2026 It\u2019s two good teams, we\u2019re 2-2. Like, that\u2019s the deal. That\u2019s what I told our guys: \u2018We put ourselves in this position. We got home-court advantage.\u2019 I foresee him playing like that for the rest of the series.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However the series plays out, the NBA Finals are finally giving us what we wanted \u2014 competition. Through the first three games, there hadn\u2019t been a tie game or a lead change in the second half.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Game four gave us everything we wanted. It\u2019s now a best-of-three series, and the NBA is in for a photo finish. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s save the absurdity that is NBA officiating for another article. It\u2019s not the time.Now is the time to appreciate the joy and pain, the ups and downs, the massive &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-592014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}