Giannis Antetokounmpo
Credit: © Matthew Stockman, Getty Images

On Tuesday, July 20, the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) defeated the Phoenix Suns 105-98 to win the team’s first NBA championship in 50 years. The Bucks won the best-of-seven finals four games to two. Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 50 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the deciding Game 6 and won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

The Bucks opened Game 6 with a 13-point first quarter lead, to the delight of 17,000 fans in attendance at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum and some 65,000 supporters at a watch party outside the arena. The Suns charged back to take a 47-42 halftime lead, but the Bucks outscored their opponents by 12 in the second half and capture the team’s first championship since 1971.

The 1971 Bucks team had been led by star center Lew Alcindor and fellow Hall of Fame members Oscar Robertson and Bob Dandridge. Alcindor publicly announced his name change to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar soon after winning the league title. Teammates Jabbar, Robertson, Dandridge, and Jon McGlocklin attended Game 4 in Milwaukee, a Bucks win that evened the series at two games apiece.

The Suns had opened Finals play with a 118-105 Game 1 victory. Guards Chris Paul and Devon Booker combined for 59 points. After the Suns prevailed, 118-108, in Game 2, chants of “Suns in four”—predicting a four-game sweep—echoed through the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Over the next four games, however, the taller, more physical Bucks squad wore down an overmatched Suns front line led by 7-foot center Deandre Ayton and journeyman forward Jae Crowder. Behind 41 points from Antetokounmpo, the Bucks won 120-100 in Game 3. In Game 4, the Bucks, with 40 points from wing Khris Middleton, overcame a fourth quarter deficit and 42 points from Booker to prevail 109-103. The Suns forged a 37-21 lead early in Game 5, but the Bucks dominated the middle two quarters en route to a 123-119 win.

Following the Game 6 victory, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver presented the Bucks with the Larry O’Brien trophy. Coach Mike Budenholzer lauded Antetokounmpo and Middleton, who have played together since the 2013-2014 season. Point guard Jrue Holiday, pesky guard-forward P.J. Tucker, and center Brook Lopez completed the starting lineup. Forward Bobby Portis and guard Pat Connaughton provided scoring and energy off the bench. Antetokounmpo, who signed a five-year contract extension before the season, had high hopes for further Bucks success. “I want the team to build off this and hopefully we can do it again,” he said.

The Golden State Warriors ended a 40-year NBA Finals drought yesterday, bringing the NBA title back to the Bay Area with a 105-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) puts up a shot against Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) during the first half of Game 6 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Cleveland. Credit: AP Photo

The underdogs from Cleveland, led by powerhouse LeBron James, lost in overtime in the first game, but won the next two games by slim margins of just two and five points, respectively.

The Warriors came roaring back in Game 4, winning by 21 points to tie the series 2-2, followed by a 13-point win in Game 5.

Yet even being down two games didn’t diminish James’s confidence in, well, himself and his team’s ability to come back and take the title after the loss in Game 5. “I feel confident because I’m the best player in the world,” he said to reporters after the game. “It’s that simple.”

That bold statement does carry some weight. James is the first player in NBA finals history to lead both teams in points, assists, and rebounds for the entire series. He averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists across the six finals games.

LeBron James put up record numbers in the Cavaliers’ championship loss to the Warriors. © Aaron Josefczyk, Reuters/Landov

But it was the player charged with defending James in the final three games of the series, Andre Iguodala, who ended up taking home the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy, making him the first player in history with zero regular-season starts to hold that honor.

ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst gave World Book editors an exclusive take on this year’s matchup, saying that the Warriors have always been the favorite to win the title this year because of their young stars and style of play.

“The Warriors are statistically one of the best teams of the last 25 years in the NBA,” he said. “They embody the new age style of playing, which relies on smaller players and high volume three-point shooting.”

The players that arguably best represent that statement are “Splash Brothers” Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of Golden State—so named because of the duo’s ability to “splash” the net with the ball, especially for three-point shots. “They are classically a well-built team with a modern feel, sort of mimicking the region they represent,” Windhorst said.

Coupled with James, whom Windhorst dubs as “one of the greatest draws in the history of the sport,” this year’s series generated record TV ratings.

At the helm for both teams are rookie coaches: Steve Kerr of the Warriors and David Blatt of the Cavs. The only other time rookie head coaches have met in the NBA finals was in 1947—the first season the league existed. Kerr also broke the record for the most regular season wins for a rookie coach this year.

This season marks the fourth time the Warriors have held up the championship trophy. They took home the NBA championship in 1947 and 1956 when they were the Philadelphia Warriors, and again in 1975, two years after the team had moved to Oakland from San Francisco to become the Golden State Warriors.

This was the just second time in franchise history that the Cavaliers have made it all the way to the NBA finals. The first was in 2007, but they were blown out in four games by the San Antonio Spurs, making this year’s Game 2 win the first NBA finals game win in Cavaliers franchise history.

The Cavs have lost two of their star players to injuries during this year’s playoffs. Power forward Kevin Love dislocated his left shoulder during the first-round playoff match-up, and point guard Kyrie Irving suffered a fractured left kneecap in the first game of the finals.

Related information in World Book:

• NBA Playoff Champions: 1950 to Present (a Timeline)

June 22, 2012

The Miami Heat won the 2011-2012 National Basketball Association (NBA) championship last night by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to 1, though lots of basketball fans were unhappy about the result. In just two years, the Heat had become the most hated team in the NBA, perceived as arrogant and smug after the team signed stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade on the roster. At an extravagant coming-out party in the summer of 2010 to announce the signings of Bosh and James, LeBron predicted a Heat dynasty with multiple championships: “Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven.”

Le Bron James (© Aaron Josefczyk, Reuters/Landov)

Many people considered Oklahoma City talented enough to defeat Miami. Led by the high-scoring duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder had swept through the first three rounds of the Western Conference play-offs, defeating defending champion Dallas Mavericks and then the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, losing only three games along the way. Miami defeated the Indiana Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Boston Celtics, with Boston forcing Miami into a seventh and final game for the Eastern Conference championship.

Oklahoma City defeated Miami in the opening game of the finals but lost the next three, all competitive contests that were not decided until the final minute. There was no suspense in the fifth game. Miami led by as many as 27 points before winning 121-106. James dominated the play-offs as he had dominated the regular season and was named the Most Valuable Player for the finals. LeBron’s prediction of more than seven NBA championships may not come true, but nobody could take away his first title.