San Antone: The Gait Toward Eight

A familiar sight, Kawhi Leonard won Finals MVP. The Spurs finished the Bucks in four games tonight, winning an 8th consecutive championship to tie the storied Boston Celtics, with their eyes now set on making true history with #9 next season. "Winning is a continual desire," Coach Popovich said at center court during the trophy presentation with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. "I believe in our team, I always have, always will. We want to win. Milwaukee, they have a bright future and I got a feeling they may be up here with you one day, Adam. Giannis is a hell of a player, a great ambassador for our league. He's got a very promising career ahead of him, and I wish Coach Bud the best in taking the team forward after a fabulous year. Thank you." Things looked grim early, the Bucks falling by 10 in the first quarter, coming out a bit flat. Avery Bradley nabbed two steals, the lead 32-21 after Dejounte Murray blocked George Hill at the rim. The Spurs then went...

Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 29 points. Tighter defensive coverage showered the Spurs with a dominant victory over the Bucks tonight, as San Antonio needs now just one more victory to hoist the NBA Championship. The Spurs blew Milwaukee up with a 37-24 first quarter showing, stifling scoring momentum for the Bucks and putting them in an early hole. Antetokounmpo persevered all game long, hot after fouling out in Game 2, but unable to lead the Bucks to a comeback despite 28 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists with 3 blocks. "We wanted to shut everyone else down," Coach Pop said after the game, as in the first two meetings all of the Bucks were playing well, whereas tonight it was only their star player, the Greek Freek. That is not to say that Nikola Mirotic played badly, making 21 points for the Bucks, but it was more so Eric Bledsoe's 2-10 performance and Khris Middleton only notching 17. Meanwhile, Kyle O'Quinn found his rhythm tonight with 14 points an...

The Bucks entered the 4th Quarter without their star. The story of the night was Giannis Antetokounmpo fouling out before the fourth quarter, as Kawhi Leonard baited him into his final two fouls in what was another close game. "We may need to make some adjustments," Coach Popovich deadpanned on the sidelines after the San Antone faithful watched the Spurs go up 2-0, halfway to an eight consecutive championship, despite the Bucks shooting well and just coming up short. Nikola Mirotic did his best to make up for the absence of Antetokounmpo with 28 points and 9 rebounds, making six 3PTers. Brook Lopez had 16 points and 8 rebounds for the Bucks. Eric Bledsoe scored 15, with Malcolm Brogdon notching 14 on the game. Before fouling out, Giannis had collected 15 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists. The first quarter belonged to the Bucks, 25-22, the second to San Antonio, 38-35, with the second half won by the Spurs, 68-61. In the play of the game, the fast break was electri...

Giannis v. Kawhi: The NBA Finals. The NBA Finals - the final duel for the Larry O'Brien trophy kicked off tonight with San Antonio's Rudy Gay going 9-9 and scoring 24 points in the first half, a welcome spark for the home crowd. Despite the outburst, Milwaukee's weapons - including 15 points by Antetokounmpo - also came to fire so the Bucks stayed close all game long, a 56-51 lead belonging to the Spurs at the break. Rudy Gay didn't stop, however, swiping the ball free into Kyle O'Quinn for a thrilling dunk, followed by yet another 3PT shot by Gay. The Bucks responded with a 10-2 run, but then Iman Shumpert & Skal Labissiere got hot from long range, Shump notching 20 points. Cold in the first half, Patty Mills finally hit a long shot for the Spurs as well, the score 86-82 heading into the final quarter. The 4th Quarter began with Giannis swatting Kawhi's shot away, his playmaking crucial for the Bucks as they finally swiped the lead, if only for a mo...