Around the NBA: Bucks eclipse Suns

The 2020-21 NBA season has concluded after the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.

Both in their 53rd NBA seasons, the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks are storied franchises but only shared one championship between them. Milwaukee won in 1971, led by the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. It had been quite the drought since, but seeing the two in the NBA Finals was refreshing, with only Jae Crowder of the Suns having played in a championship before (Miami 2020).

In Chris Paul’s 16 seasons, this was his first Finals appearance. The future Hall of Famer started the series strong but faded as it continued, making uncharacteristic turnovers and disappearing into the background at times. Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton had incredibly impressive playoff runs for their first time out. Both young stars had games and moments of basketball brilliance but unfortunately showed their inexperience as the Finals wound down.

Credit must be given in part, of course, the defense of Milwaukee and the relentlessness of its brightest star.

Milwaukee had been one of the best defensive teams in the NBA for several seasons but started slow this year. The addition of Jrue Holiday and the defensive transformation of Brook Lopez took longer than expected to gel. All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton are established two-way guys, with Giannis being last season’s Defensive Player of the Year. Suddenly, right in time for the playoffs, things started clicking.

The Bucks had the benefit of facing some injury-plagued teams, but that is often the way the cookie crumbles in the playoffs of any sport. Fingers may be pointed at the expedited season, but whatever happened to other teams, Milwaukee did their best to make sure it did not happen to them, luck or not.

As for those opponents: Miami had essentially the same roster that led them to the Finals in the bubble last season. Brooklyn had injuries to their stars but still had Kevin Durant raining fire and brimstone. Atlanta was a bit of a Cinderella story but was coming in young, hot, and with plenty to prove. Milwaukee defeated them all.

Phoenix benefitted from injured opponents as well. Lakers with no Anthony Davis, Nuggets with Jamaal Murray, and Clippers with no Kawhi Leonard. That still left LeBron James, (MVP) Nikola Jokic, and Paul George. Phoenix was rolling.

The Suns took the first two games at home, which meant do-or-die for the Bucks in Milwaukee. A 3-0 or a 3-1 deficit could have spelled the end for the Bucks, but they took care of business, evening the series 2-2.

Back to Phoenix — the home team had taken each game so far, but behind another herculean effort by Antetokounmpo and a brilliant two-way performance by Holiday, Milwaukee gained the edge.

For Game 6 in Milwaukee, we had the NBA’s best road team facing the NBA’s best home team. The game could have gone either way if only Giannis Antetokounmpo hadn’t laid it all on the court and prevented his team from losing. Phoenix never gave up, but the Greek Freak made sure that did not matter.

Antetokounmpo finished off the Suns with a 50 point, 14 rebound, five-block performance, which was one for the ages. His ever infectious enthusiasm spilled over afterward and continues to do so today. A family man and ferocious competitor, Giannis wore his heart on his sleeve throughout and gained even more respect than he already had from his two regular-season MVPs.

Devin Booker now has an awkward plane to catch with Middleton and Holiday as the trio heads to Tokyo to represent Team USA. Unfortunately, that is the only basketball we will get for a while, but keep an eye out for the NBA Draft Thursday, July 29th as well.

As for next year… will Giannis Antetokounmpo’s reign continue? Will the superstars in Brooklyn remain healthy and gel? How much does LeBron James have left in the tank? Will the return of Klay Thompson mean the return of the Warriors?

There are many questions, but that is why we stay tuned. Keep checking back with The Basketball Movement as we track the NBA, NCAA, FIBA, high school, and about any other hoops you can imagine.

Around the NBA: 2020 regular season awards

The NBA has announced that voting will conclude tomorrow for 2019-20 NBA regular season awards.

Another NBA article? Okay, there are some things you need to realize:

1. NBA basketball is the only highly visible hoops action going on in the country right now.

2. All blog posts on this site are written by rabid NBA fan, Wil Harrington.

I played basketball growing up. I was short, but hard-working, partially fueled by workouts with the fiery Rob Yanders. I have watched a good bit of Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears basketball. Mostly though, I am staying involved with the sport through writing because of my love of the game - a love that mostly stems from NBA hoops.

So, when there is not much going on in the basketball world besides NBA action, it is fine by me. I hope it is fine with you too.

The NBA has announced that tomorrow will be the final day for votes to be submitted by the panel of sportswriters and broadcasters for regular season awards. This inherently means that the vote will not include any action from seeding games that are set to start later this week. This will all be based on what we saw up until the hiatus began in March. Announcements of winners will take place sometime during the playoffs set to take place in the Orlando “bubble.” Below we will highlight likely candidates to win the awards.

Rookie of the Year

We will start here because it is the most clear-cut. Zion Williamson owned the buzz, but a preseason injury meant that we only got to see 19 games out of the young Pelican. Even if the regular season had continued as normal, Zion’s body of work would likely not be able to stand up to Grizzlies PG, Ja Morant, even with Zion’s rookie-best scoring (23.6) and rebounding (6.8) averages.

Morant propelled a rebuilding Memphis squad into playoff contention, displaying poise, playmaking (6.9 assists), and explosive highlights along the way.

Even though it was a solid rookie class, there is only one other player in my eyes that deserves to be in on this conversation: Kendrick Nunn. Bumping Goran Dragic to a valuable bench role, Nunn played around 30 minutes per game as a starter for the Heat. He has a solid pro game and has proven himself as a capable scorer.

Most Improved

The other regular season awards are much closer races, and this one is no exception. Six good players that took All-Star-worthy steps forward are Paskal Siakam, Jayson Tatum, Brandon Ingram, Bam Adebayo, Luka Doncic, and Trae Young.

“Ice” Trae took the biggest step forward in scoring, but the prolific shooter’s buckets did little to translate to the win column, which hurts him. Siakam won last year, which speaks volumes of his work ethic that he is considered again. Siakam was a bit up-and-down, whereas Adebayo and Ingram were consistent throughout. Ingram was given plenty of responsibility with ZIon out, and the media seems to be leaning his way.

Personally, I like Doncic for this award, though that appears to be an unpopular opinion. Doncic began his career at such a high level but still managed to take big steps forward in year two. His defense and three-point percentage remain suspect, but to go from 21/8/6 to 29/9/9 while leading a surprising Mavs squad into the Playoffs? Seems like the biggest step up to me.

Sixth Man

Tired of Lou Williams winning this award? You may want to look away during this portion. “The Underground GOAT” is not a lock to win, though his name is near the top once again. His teammate, Montrezl Harrell has as good a case as anyone, averaging nearly 18 points to go with seven boards off the pine. An argument could be made that the Clippers would be hurting much more without Harrell as opposed to Williams.

Outside of the Clippers, Dennis Schroder rounds out the likely top three potential winners of the award. Schroder has been a sweet-shooting scorer for an OKC Thunder bench that has been much better than it was expected to be. Shoutout to Goran Dragic and Derrick Rose, though neither are likely candidates to challenge the other three.

Defensive Player of the Year

This is likely another three-horse race, though there are multiple players worth mentioning. Brook Lopez has taken a big step forward as a defensive anchor but is a bit of a one-trick pony with his shot-blocking. Bam Adebayo and Jrue Holiday are more well-rounded but do not have the defensive impact of the following: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi Leonard.

Remember I said there was a clear top three. I would pull Kawhi “Load Management” Leonard off of this list. While he remains incredibly capable and his defensive rebounding is up, his other numbers are surprisingly pedestrian and he was not a reliable threat until later in the season.

Anthony Davis has always been an excellent shot-blocker, but his all-around effort this season has helped him stand out more than usual as a DPOY candidate. Similarly, Antetokounmpo has been an excellent all-around defender. What gives Giannis a potential edge is his genuine ability to guard all five positions.

As for Gobert, there is a reason he is on a winning streak. Less versatile than Antetokounmpo, Gobert still challenges or alters as many shots as anyone in recent memory.

MVP

Undeniably the most important award, it is going to be a close race once again this year. Last season, it was between Antetokounmpo (who won), LeBron James, and James Harden. This season, the race is nearly identical, though I may insert Luka Doncic into yet another conversation, arguing that he may be even more valuable to the Mavericks than Harden is to the Rockets. This award always makes for fun debates.

Though you could continue on down the list to discuss Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, and Anthony Davis, this race is truly between the Greek Freak and King James.

LeBron James already has four MVP awards under his belt and has been as good as ever, sporting the best assist average in the league. He is able to lean on running-mate, Anthony Davis, which has helped to keep him fresh and as explosive as ever. The Lakers hold the best record in the Western Conference.

The best record in the league, however, belongs to the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is the best player on the best team, leading the way in scoring, assists, and rebounds. Before a slight falter to end the regular season, they were on pace for a historically great record.

Giannis is an elite defender as well, which might give him an edge over an aging LeBron (though James is still certainly capable). The race will be heavily debated, though Giannis may have a superior case to win the award for the second year in a row.

We will not have the answers for a while, but with seeding games kicking off on Thursday, July 30th, there will be plenty of good play to keep us occupied. Continue to tune in here and on our Twitter and follow along!

(All stats shown from basketball-reference.com)

Around the NBA: Who will be named 2018-19 MVP?

Tonight’s slate of games features the NBA MVP front-runners squaring off. Will James Harden repeat as MVP, or will we see a new face?

For the last half of the 2018-19 NBA season, the MVP race has been James Harden’s to lose. He rebounds, he assists, and he scores… a lot. Possibly most importantly, he has lead his team to contention in the Western Conference, where they started the season as a non-factor. Chris Paul was hurt, the team was lame, and other stars were shining brighter.

Around December-January, things changed. James Harden has been on one of the most ludicrous heaters in NBA history. He is averaging 36 points per game on the season and is on pace to blow away all other players in that category. He is also finding his way to the line like no other guard has, attempting 11 free throws per contest.

Already acknowledged as one of the most dangerous iso players in history, he has also stepped up on defense, averaging a career high 2.2 steals per game so far. In the state of today’s game though, his competition is still fierce.

Rounding, Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 27/13/6 with 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. The Greek Freak has arguably eclipsed LeBron James to become the most terrifying open-court threat in the game. Where LeBron is a freight train, Giannis is a jumbo jet, soaring over defenders with just a few giant steps. Still lacking a consistent perimeter jumper, he is still able to score at will and has become as imposing on offense as he has always been on defense.

Antetokounmpo’s numbers don’t scare James Harden’s MVP chances, but his team does. The Bucks have the best record in the NBA, clearly led by Giannis’ brilliance. His Milwaukee teammate, Kris Middleton was named an All-Star, but the massive success of one of the NBA’s recently dormant franchises is all due to the Greek Freak.

Any other contenders?

Until the last month or so of action, Paul George of the OKC Thunder had a place in this conversation. He is still having a career year, averaging multiple personal best stats with 28.2 points per game (previous best was 23.7), 6.8 boards, 4.2 assists, and 2.2 steals.

George has been a bit inconsistent of late, which has been an unfortunate pairing with an also inconsistent Russell Westbrook. The Thunder are still a playoff team, but only just barely, hurting and possibly extinguishing PG13’s MVP chances.

We may be jaded by their sustained greatness, but Kevin Durant and especially Stephen Curry have had their usual spectacular individual seasons. The Warriors have been good, but not as dominant as we have become accustomed to seeing.

A few more players worth mentioning are: Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid, and Damian Lillard. There are more successful teams and spectacular players, but this late in the season, we are realistically coming down to just two men: Harden and Antetokounmpo.

Houston travels to Milwaukee tonight, so we will get a good long look at a clash between these two titans. The MVP race is a marathon, not a sprint, but games like these may still stand out to selectors of the award. The game will be on TNT at 7:00PM central time. Tune in to see two of the best in the world go toe-to-toe and weigh in on the debate over on Twitter. Follow us @Bball_Movement

All stats from Basketball Reference