Bucks Notes: Holiday, Giannis, Thanasis, Team Building

The Bucks paid a high price to get Jrue Holiday last November, but he has silenced any doubts about whether he was worth it, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Holiday delivered 27 points and 13 assists Saturday night and had a game-changing steal in the final minute as Milwaukee closed in on its first NBA title in 50 years.

Holiday said he was “in the right place at the right time” as he took the ball away from Devin Booker on a play where Phoenix had a chance to take the lead. Holiday pushed the ball up court and delivered an alley-oop pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo that virtually sealed the victory.

“I saw it in Portland, when he was in New Orleans and we got swept in the first round,” Pat Connaughton said. “Just the way he defends on a nightly basis and the way that he’s able to do it in different ways. He’s physical, he’s quick, he’s strong. He’s got a lot of things to him. And he’s got quick hands. First-team All-Defense play. It was a Defensive Player of the Year (play). It just kind of shows we’re built on defense.”

There’s more on the Bucks:

• Antetokounmpo was dehydrated after the game and had to be treated for cramping before he could conduct his post-game interviews, according to Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press. He played more than 40 minutes and posted 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
• Antetokounmpo said it was hard for him to play without his brother, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who missed Saturday’s game after being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. “It was extremely difficult for him not to be here to cheer for the team,’’ Giannis said. “He gives the team a lot of energy and the team feels it. As much as it hurts, we still got to do our job and I Facetimed him after the game.’’ Berman pointed out that Giannis hugged his brother for about 15 seconds before the start of Game 4, but his COVID-19 tests have presumably been fine.
• The Bucks’ success is erasing the “super-team” narrative that has surrounded most of the NBA champions of the last decade, notes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Rather than relying on free agency, Milwaukee slowly built a contender around Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, who have been with the franchise since 2013.