The 2021 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2020–21 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Eastern Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks overcame a two-games-to-none series deficit to defeat the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in six games, winning their first NBA championship since 1971 and ending a half-century long championship drought for not just the Bucks, but the city of Milwaukee in general. Holding home-court advantage, the Suns led the series 2–0 before the Bucks won the next four games, becoming the fifth team in NBA history to win the championship after losing the first two games. Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). With the COVID-19 pandemic altering the NBA's schedule for the second consecutive year, the start date of the series was pushed from its usual time in late May or early June to July 6, the second-latest start in Finals' history. This was the first NBA Finals since 2010 to have neither LeBron James nor Stephen Curry as one of the players competing, the first since 1998 to not feature a team from California, Texas, or Florida, as well as the first Finals since 1984 to not feature a teammate of Shaquille O'Neal.
Milwaukee and Phoenix were two of five teams in the league with an active championship drought of 50 years or more. Prior to 2021, the Bucks won their only title in 1971, while the Suns have yet to win a title since joining the league in 1968. They were both making their third Finals appearance. Phoenix and Milwaukee each began play as expansion teams in 1968. Both teams were involved in a coin toss for the rights to the first overall pick in the 1969 NBA draft, which the Bucks won and used to select Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, from UCLA. He led the Bucks to their first championship in 1971. The 2021 Finals was the first since 1971 to not include any players who had previously won an NBA championship, and the first since 2015 that no players on the winning team had prior NBA Finals experience. The Suns' Jae Crowder was the only player in the series who previously played in the Finals (having made the Finals in 2020 with the Miami Heat), making it just the second time since the first Finals that fewer than two players had previously appeared in the championship series; no players had previously played in the Finals in the 1977 series.
Background Impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the NBA for the second straight year. The regular season was reduced to 72 games for each team, and was held from December 22, 2020, to May 16, 2021. The playoffs started on May 22.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks finished with the league's best record in the prior two seasons before suffering disappointments in the playoffs. In the offseason, they were at risk of losing two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Award-winner Giannis Antetokounmpo in free agency. To improve their roster, the Bucks acquired guard Jrue Holiday, a highly respected defensive player and an All-Star in 2013, from the New Orleans Pelicans in a four-team trade, surrendering a bounty in starting point guard Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, the rights to R. J. Hampton, and a package of future draft picks. Milwaukee later re-signed Antetokounmpo, and had previously re-signed forward Khris Middleton and center Brook Lopez. The team finished the season with a 46–26 record and clinched the 3-seed in the Eastern Conference.
In the first round, the Bucks won in a four-game sweep over sixth-seeded Miami Heat, to whom they had lost in the previous season's conference semifinals in five games. However, Milwaukee lost starting guard Donte DiVincenzo for the season after he tore a ligament in his left ankle in Game 3. A two-way contributor, he was the team's sixth-leading scorer in the regular season, making 38% of his three-point field goals. The Bucks then faced the second-seeded Brooklyn Nets, losing the first two games before winning the series in seven. After taking a 2–1 lead in the conference finals against the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks, Antetokounmpo went down in game four with a hyperextension to his left knee, allowing the Hawks to win game four and tie the series. Despite Antetokounmpo's absence, the Bucks were still able to close out the Hawks in six games behind the timely contributions of Lopez, Middleton, and Holiday to reach the Finals for the first time since 1974.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns had just a .302 winning percentage in the previous five seasons entering the 2020–21 season, which is the worst winning percentage in the five years prior for a team advancing to the final playoff round in any of the four major American professional sports leagues. During the 2020 offseason, Phoenix acquired All-Star Chris Paul from the Oklahoma City Thunder by trading away Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre Jr., and a future first-round draft pick. The Suns, led by Paul, rising star Devin Booker, 2018 first overall pick Deandre Ayton, and second-year head coach Monty Williams, finished the season with a 51–21 record as the No. 2 seed, their first winning season since the 2013–14 season, and qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2010. They also clinched the Pacific division for the first time since 2006–07.
Phoenix began their playoff run by defeating the seventh-seeded and defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the opening round in six games. In the conference semifinals, they swept the third-seeded Denver Nuggets. The Suns then defeated Paul's former team, the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers, in the conference finals in six games, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993. At 36 years old, Paul made his first Finals appearance after 16 seasons in the league and 10 All-NBA selections.
Road to the Finals
Milwaukee Bucks (Eastern Conference champion) Phoenix Suns (Western Conference champion)Regular seasonDefeated the 6th seeded Miami Heat, 4–0First roundDefeated the 7th seeded Los Angeles Lakers, 4–2Defeated the 2nd seeded Brooklyn Nets, 4–3Conference semifinalsDefeated the 3rd seeded Denver Nuggets, 4–0Defeated the 5th seeded Atlanta Hawks, 4–2Conference finalsDefeated the 4th seeded Los Angeles Clippers, 4–2
Regular season series The Suns won the regular season series 2–0, with both wins decided by a single point.
Series summary GameDateRoad teamResultHome teamGame 1 July 6 Milwaukee Bucks 105–118 (0–1) Phoenix SunsGame 2 July 8 Milwaukee Bucks 108–118 (0–2) Phoenix SunsGame 3 July 11 Phoenix Suns 100–120 (2–1) Milwaukee BucksGame 4 July 14 Phoenix Suns 103–109 (2–2) Milwaukee BucksGame 5 July 17 Milwaukee Bucks 123–119 (3–2) Phoenix SunsGame 6 July 20 Phoenix Suns 98–105 (2–4) Milwaukee Bucks
Game summaries Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA. The local time at each game's venue is also given, either Phoenix (MST, UTC−7)Phoenix does not observe daylight saving time and remains on Mountain Standard Time (MST) all year. See Time in Arizona. or Milwaukee (CDT, UTC−5).
Game 1
Chris Paul scored 32 points and had nine assists and Devin Booker added 27 points to lead Phoenix to a 118–105 win over Milwaukee. After he opened the third quarter with a jump shot for the first double-digit lead of the game, Paul later scored eight straight points for the Suns and scored 16 overall in the quarter. Phoenix led 88–68 with 2:20 remaining in the quarter after Paul passed to Deandre Ayton, who was fouled and made two free throws. In his return from his knee injury, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo returned and had 20 points, 17 rebounds in limited minutes due to foul trouble, and made a chase-down block of a layup attempt by Mikal Bridges that was reminiscent of "The Block" by LeBron James on Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals. Antetokounmpo's availability was not confirmed until almost an hour before tip-off, and he played with few signs of injury.
Milwaukee pulled to within seven points midway through the fourth quarter, but Paul passed to Booker for a 3-pointer and then stole the ball from the Bucks' Khris Middleton and hit a jumper to extend the lead to 106–94. Ayton finished the game with 22 points and 19 rebounds for Phoenix. Middleton scored 29 on 26 shots for the Bucks, but did not attempt a free throw. Teammate Jrue Holiday shot just 4 for 14. Milwaukee center Brook Lopez was targeted on switches by the Suns, and he was on the bench for most of the second half while Antetokounmpo played center.
The Suns had 26 free throw attempts in the game, 10 more than the Bucks. Phoenix made their first 25 free throws and nearly set a record for most free throws in a game without a miss until Jae Crowder missed with 24.8 seconds left in the game. The Suns finished 25 of 26 on their free throws compared to the Bucks' 9 for 16. The loss by the Bucks marked the third straight series in which they trailed. This marked Phoenix' first win at home in the Finals since 1976, and the first time they ever held a series lead in the Finals.
Game 2
Booker scored 31 points and Paul had 23 as the Suns won 118–108 to take a 2–0 series lead. Phoenix made 20 of its 40 three-pointers, including seven makes from Booker. Bridges added 27 points and seven rebounds for the Suns, and Paul also had eight assists. Antetokounmpo had 42 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee. Phoenix was up 65–50 towards the start of the third period, but Antetokounmpo scored 20 points in the quarter, including a stretch of 13 consecutive points for the Bucks, to keep his team in the game.
The Bucks outscored the Suns 20–0 in the key in the opening period, but Phoenix made eight 3-pointers and trailed just 29–26. With less than five minutes remaining in the first half, the game was tied at 41 before Phoenix ended with a 15–4 run. On their last possession, the Suns made 10 passes, with every team member touching the ball, culminating in Bridges passing the ball to Ayton, who laid it in while being fouled. Phoenix weathered Antetokounmpo's 20-point quarter in the third, when he joined Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, and Joe Dumars as the other players to score at least 20 in a quarter during a finals game. Milwaukee cut the lead to six in the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer by Paul and a basket by Bridges expanded the lead back to double figures, and Booker made three of his 3-point shots to fend off the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo had more than twice as many field goals as any other teammate, shooting 15 for 22 from the field, and 11 for 18 from the free-throw line. Holiday scored 17 for Milwaukee on just 7-for-21 shooting, and Middleton had 11 points but was 5 for 16. Crowder bounced back from an 0-for-8 shooting performance in Game 1 with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix.
Game 3
Antetokounmpo had 41 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, and Milwaukee won 120–100 at home to cut Phoenix's series lead to 2–1. He received more support from his teammates in Game 3. Holiday scored 21 points and was 5 of 10 on 3-pointers, and Middleton scored 18. The Suns got 19 points and nine assists from Paul, but his fellow guard Booker was limited to 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting, as the Bucks sent multiple defenders at him.