After loss, Antetokounmpo walks off podium into offseason

If Giannis Antetokounmpo was as effective at closing out games as interviews, the Milwaukee Bucks might be headed to the NBA Finals.The “Greek Freak” walked off the podium on Saturday night after the Bucks blew a big lead and lost Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, 100-94, to the host Toronto Raptors, who reached the Finals for the first time in franchise history.To be fair, Antetokounmpo had answered six questions following the most difficult loss of his career. The last straw was a question that he had already been asked twice with different phrasing.“Man, obviously when you’re up 2-0, that doesn’t mean nothing,” Antetokounmpo said earlier in the interview. “You’ve got to learn how to come out and close out games, especially after Game 3.”The Bucks won a league-best 60 games this season led by Antetokounmpo, the likely Most Valuable Player. Milwaukee won 10 of its first 11 playoff contests before losing four in a row to Toronto, doubling its longest slide of the season. The Bucks lost Game 3 in double overtime. They dropped Game 5 at home after opening a 14-point lead and Game 6 after holding a 76-61 advantage late in the third quarter.“We knew that they were going to make a run,” Antetokounmpo said. “But obviously we weren’t able to rebound the ball and get out in transition and get the easy points. That’s why we lost the lead.”Toronto scored the last 10 points of the third period, and Antetokounmpo spent the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter on the bench as the rest of Milwaukee’s lead melted away. The Bucks were plus-3 during Antetokoumpo’s 39 minutes but minus-9 when he rested. “I don’t think Giannis playing 44 minutes is the solution,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Obviously I want to be out there. I want to play,” Antetokounmpo said. “I love playing. But I trust my coach.”Down the stretch, Antetokounmpo was ineffective, scoring just three points on 1-of-5 shooting with no assists while facing constant double-teams. Overall, he had 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting with 11 rebounds and four assists. “What I did was trust my teammates,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing the whole year. If we lose by doing that, by trusting one another, by moving the ball, by doing what we’ve been doing all year, by trusting our habits, it’s okay.” While Antetokounmpo trusted his teammates, Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard took the game into his own hands. The former Finals MVP with San Antonio scored 15 of his 27 points after the Bucks opened their 15-point lead and willed his team to victory. “He knows what he’s going to do. He has confidence in himself,” Antetokounmpo noted. “And he has the experience. He’s been here before. He’s been to the Finals multiple times.” Before walking off the podium and into the offseason, Antetokounmpo vowed that this experience will make him and the Bucks better. “I think it’s just the start of a long journey,” he said. “We’re  going to get better. We’re going to come back next year and believe in who we are, believe in what we’ve built this year, and hopefully we can be in the same situation and be the ones moving forward.”