ICYMI: Giannis Antetokounmpo gets doused in ice water by teammates, gets plaudits from coach Mike Budenholzer after breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record
Giannis Antetokounmpo created history with his 44-point performance against the Brooklyn Nets. The Greek Freek [14,216] passed Kareem Adul - Jabbar [14,211] as the Milwaukee Bucks' All-Time scoring leader. He broke the record by hitting a step-back three-pointer that sent the game into overtime.
The entire franchise was extremely happy for Giannis Antetokounmpo in achieving this feat. He has been a big part of the team for the last nine years and led them to their first championship in over 50 years.
Coach Mike Budenholzer congratulated the two-time MVP on the achievement and gave him the game ball. Post that, the team threw a bucket full of ice water on Giannis Antetokounmpo to cool him off, which is a gesture NBA players often do after a teammate has a big game or achieves something special.
A fitting locker room celebration. https://t.co/t0wY5AuPNG
Speaking about overtaking Abdul-Jabbar as the All-Time leading scorer of the Bucks, the Greek Freak said:
"Did not know about it but it's good because I'm changing the narrative, you know, I dont want to be the guy who only dunks and obviously I can make three, but it doesn't really matter, at the end of the day, if you don't have a successful season and if you don't try to keep getting better and staying humble and staying hungry to play all the way till May- June, nobody is going to remember this."
Giannis Antetokounmpo has already achieved a lot in his career. However, he is still 27 and could win a lot more accolades before he decides to call time on his career. The Greek Freak believes that his humility is what will get him more success. Speaking more about the same, he said:
"I want myself to stay humble, I feel like the more humble I get and the more hungry I stay, the more things I can accomplish, the more art I can create. Playing basketball is an art and so the more I can prolong my career, so I just got to keep staying humble, keep trying to make my teammates great, win games and good things like tonight will happen."
Giannis Antetokounmpo on passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points in #Bucks history. https://t.co/bgF5yEO2ZN
Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the Bucks to a thrilling win against the Brooklyn Nets
The Bucks had already won two games against the Nets this season and came into the game in hopes of clinching the regular season series. All the stars were available for both teams, which meant that this game was going to be an exciting one to watch.
Top 2 and he's not two.
44 PTS | 14 REB | 6 AST | 67% FG https://t.co/7Tu2ce0O2d
The Nets started the game on fire by scoring 30 points in the first quarter. Kyrie Irving looked great in the offensive flow and set the tone for a great game. The Bucks came back in style as they had a terrific second quarter to put some pressure on the Nets.
Going into halftime, the scores were 60-55 in favor of the Nets. Giannis Antetokounmpo slowly got into rhtymn and it was set to be a stunning finish.
The Bucks scored 31 in the third quarter, which meant that the game was tied at 86 going into the penultimate quarter. However, the Bucks were at a slight disadvantage as Khris Middleton was ejected in the third quarter for his foul on Bruce Brown.
This didn't seem to affect them as they kept going and looked determined to get beyond the finish line.
The Nets then went on a stunning run as Kevin Durant started taking over the game. It looked like the game was slipping away from the Bucks. They were three down with 30 seconds left to play and needed a big play to force overtime.
Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered just that as he drained a step-back three to tie the game at 110. The Nets had a chance to win the game on the final possession, but Kevin Durant was unable to hit the bucket, which meant that the game was set to go into overtime.
Have you heard about Giannis' free throws?
Clutch. https://t.co/xjqd1EuPf8
Both teams looked locked in and continued their back and forth. There were some big free throw misses from both sides, which made the game a lot more interesting. With the game tied at 118, Giannis Antetokounmpo went to the FT line and drained both his free throws, which eventually proved to be the difference as Kevin Durant failed to hit another game-winner with three seconds left to play.
With this win, the Bucks are now only half a game behind the Miami Heat to get to the top spot, while the Nets are in eighth position tied with the same record as the Charlotte Hornets.