His arrival in November meant two things: Giannis was sticking around – on the largest contract in NBA history no less (five years, $228m) – and the Bucks title window was officially wide open. Anything less than a ‘chip over the next few years with this ‘Big Three’ would be seen as something of a colossal failure or worse, a waste of Giannis’ prime, whatever was going on in New York or Los Angeles
Antetokounmpo was a reigning two-time MVP and Defensive Player of the Year heading into this season. Middleton a two-time All-Star. In effect, it’s now, soon, or never.
Milwaukee know better than anyone a player like Giannis comes along only once in a generation, or even longer than that. This is a ball club without a championship for 50 years, when the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, selected first by the Bucks in the 1969 draft, led the team to its only ever title in 1971.
Once he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers just four years later, that was that. The Bucks had not reached the NBA Finals or sniffed a championship since, until now.
Given this weight attached to Holiday entering an unlikely closing series against the Phoenix Suns, it was perhaps no surprise to see him struggle through Games 1, 2 and 4 so far. During those three matches he shot just 29 per cent, 33 per cent and then 20 per cent on field goals, quickly resembling the tortured Eric Bledsoe: the bricky point guard he was meant to replace.
These are the kinds of stats you would anticipate from a player who shot more than 50% in the regular season, not from Giannis’ three-point attempts. It was even awful from deep, where he scored a horrifying 8% from beyond the arc, going 1–12 overall.
Considering his legendary play in the paint, Game 3 will always be remembered as “the Giannis game,” but Holiday also had a fantastic game, scoring 21 points and making half of his 10 three-pointers. That kind of play was short-lived, as Giannis and Middleton produced clutch play after clutch play in the nail-biting fourth quarter of Game 4 to square the series.
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