After losing the first two games of the 2021 NBA Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks seem to be making this series theirs.
With the 123-119 Game 5, they've now won three straight and delivered a 'Finals moment' or 'Finals performance' in each of those games. In Game 3, it was Antetokounmpo's epic 41-point, 13-rebound performance in a 20-point victory while in Game 4, it was the Greek Freak's epic recovery block in final minutes.
In Game 5, it was the Jrue Holiday to Giannis Antetokounmpo alley-oop connection.
Jrue Holiday's steal & lob to Giannis to help seal the @Bucks win, through the lens of our slo-mo #PhantomCam! 🔥
— NBA (@NBA) July 18, 2021
Jrue: 27 PTS, 13 AST, 3 STL
Giannis: 32 PTS#ThatsGame #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/AQxRy4ITOW
The impressive two-way play by Holiday, capped-off by Antetokounmpo's incredible finish, came in the final seconds and more or less sealed Game 5 with only 13.5 seconds remaining.
"A great play by Jrue. I don't have any other words for that one," Suns head coach Monty Williams said postgame.
Devin Booker, who had the ball stolen from him, also credited Holiday's defensive instincts, "I was just trying to score the ball, he was behind me. I turned and he was right there."
MORE: Takeaways - Bucks' Big 3 dominate in Game 5 win
Holiday, surely being modest, put it simply down to being at the right place at the right time.
"First I thought he was going to shoot it and I was going to be behind him and try to contest or maybe try to bother him. Once he pump-faked, I felt like I should stay down and he literally turned into me."
That play, apart from more or less sealing the contest, also put a cap on a tremendous bounce-back performance from Holiday. Coming into this game, the 6-foot-3 guard was averaging 15.3 points and 8.0 assists while shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.
However, in this one, he was balling. At the final buzzer, he finished with 27 points, 13 assists, four rebounds and three steals on 12-of-20 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from distance.
Despite having two fouls to his name, it was Holiday that sparked the huge Bucks comeback in the second quarter by scoring or assisting on 27 of the team's 43 points in the period.
Jrue Holiday's 14 PTS (6-7 FGM) and 5 AST in the 2nd quarter help the @Bucks come back from 16 down to lead at halftime on ABC!#NBAFinals presented by YouTube TV pic.twitter.com/7DMDkhh8HQ
— NBA (@NBA) July 18, 2021
At the other end of that lob, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has been getting a lot of attention off the court over the past 24 hours prior to Game 5 with his quote on figuring out his 'ego', pulled out yet another great one as he broke down that play to human emotion.
MORE: Bucks get NBA Twitter buzzing with Game 5 win
"The pass was all about trust," Antetokounmpo said postgame. "Obviously, he could have pulled the ball out, let the clock run and get a good shot but he trusts me and threw the ball up there."
Antetokounmpo, the frontrunner for Finals MVP, finished the game with 32 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Both teammates gave each other tremendous credit for that play.
"They don't call him the Freak for nothing," Holiday said postgame.
"At that point I just threw it as high as I could - only where Giannis could get it and he went up there and got it."@MotorolaUS | #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/UAi7wYm69t
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) July 18, 2021
After a couple of days, once the dust settles, the Bucks will have a chance to wrap things up and win their first championship in 50 years in Game 6, which is scheduled for Tuesday, July 20 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
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