The Bucks just beat the Suns 123-119 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The game absolutely kicked ass. It kicked even more ass than Game 4, which, in case you forgot, kicked a ton of ass! Tonight's action provided no shortage of momentum swings, intense moments, and brilliant individual performances. But right now, in the immediate aftermath, there is only one thing to say: Giannis Antetokounmpo did the shit.
The Suns went on a 12-3 run late in the fourth quarter to pull within one point, and following a barfed-up Bucks possession, they had the ball with under 30 seconds left to play. That's when this happened:
Good god. Let us pause briefly to praise Jrue Holiday for ripping the ball away from Devin Booker and then having the courage to throw that pass instead of trying to dribble out the clock. Now that we've done that, let us get to the matter at hand: How did Giannis dunk that? How the hell did he even get his hands on it?? How did he land without both of his legs snapping in two after Chris Paul tried to shove him out of the sky???
That's now two straight games that have been punctuated by Antetokounmpo making an incredible, clutch play that overshadowed everything else that happened before it. That he was on opposite sides of an alley-oop for each one makes for a nice narrative arc, and is also further evidence that there's really nobody else out there who can do the exact things he does. He's finished off two straight games with a career highlight, and if he wants to top either in Game 6, he'll need to catch a lob after jumping from the free-throw line before dunking the ball home as time expires to win the game by two points. He might do it!
