Giannis Antetokounmpo

If the stars ever manage to align, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has his sights set on playing alongside a two-time NBA MVP.

When asked Sunday by a Twitter user which current player he would choose to play with in order to help him get into the playoffs or to the NBA Finals, Lillard responded with Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

It is tough to argue with Lillard's pick since Antetokounmpo is the reigning NBA Finals MVP after leading the Bucks to a championship last season.

He has also helped the Bucks make it to the playoffs in six consecutive seasons, which is the second-longest streak in franchise history.

Lillard knows a thing or two about getting to the playoffs, as he and the Blazers made it eight years in a row before finally missing out this season with a 27-55 record.

Dame's absence was a big reason for Portland's struggles since he was limited to just 29 games with an abdominal injury that required surgery.

Even during the Blazers' eight-year playoff streak, postseason success largely eluded them, however.

Portland only reached the Western Conference Finals once during that time and was eliminated in the first round five times.

With the Blazers trading away many of their top players this season, speculation arose regarding the franchise potentially parting ways with Lillard in a trade as well.

He is under contract through at least the 2023-24 season, though, and has made it clear on numerous occasions that he doesn't want to be traded.

Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo is the franchise guy in Milwaukee, and he is signed through at least 2025, so he isn't going anywhere in the near future either.

A Lillard-Antetokounmpo duo seems more like a pipe dream than anything at this point, but it is fun to think about two of the NBA's best scorers wearing the same uniform.

Jayson Tatum put the Boston Celtics on his back in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday at Fiserv Forum, finishing with 46 points in a 108-95 victory to force a Game 7 at TD Garden. 

Even Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo lauded Tatum for his "unbelievable" performance during his postgame press conference.

"He was unbelievable. He was knocking down shots, tough shots. ... You've got to give him credit. He played unbelievable. He led his team to a win," Antetokounmpo told reporters. "As I said, made a lot of tough shots. Like, I think like as a team, we were doing a good job, you know, like being in front of him, you know, make him shoot contested threes, contested twos. But he made them. You know, and you've got to respect that. He played unbelievable."

Tatum was the driving force behind Boston's Game 6 win. He shot 17-of-32 from the floor and 7-of-15 from beyond the arc, in addition to putting up nine rebounds, four assists and one block. 

It was, without question, his best performance of this year's playoffs. However, he has impressed nearly every time he has stepped on the court this spring. The 24-year-old entered Friday's game averaging 26.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.6 steals and one block through nine playoff games. 

Celtics star Jaylen Brown said Tatum's performance was part of a "signature game" for the Celtics, and head coach Ime Udoka lauded Tatum for his "huge night." Some of the NBA's best players also took to Twitter to share their thoughts about Tatum's performance.

Speaking with reporters Following Friday's win, Tatum said knowing that a Game 6 loss would've ended the Celtics season was enough to get him going. 

"Knowing that if we lost, our season would be over with. I was excited to play Game 6," Tatum said. "This was a big moment for all of us—for myself and the team—for how we would respond."

Tatum will need to be just as dominant, if not more dominant, in Game 7 on home court this weekend. A chance for a 2020 Eastern Conference Finals rematch against the Miami Heat should be enough to fuel the Celtics entering the biggest game of their season to date.

Game 7 between the Celtics and Bucks is slated for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Boston. 

The Boston Celtics will host the Milwaukee Bucks for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals after defeating the defending NBA champions 108-95 on Friday behind 46 points from Jayson Tatum.

After the game, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo discussed his strategy for that battle.

"For me, just go out there, play, you know, free," Antetokounmpo said in a postgame press conference on NBA TV. "Be fearless, play free. We don’t owe nobody nothing."

The Bucks have put up a valiant effort despite missing three-time All-Star Khris Middleton, who suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee in the first round against the Chicago Bulls. Antetokounmpo has been sensational and finished with 44 points and 20 rebounds Friday.

However, the Bucks are now faced with a win-or-go home scenario on the road. 

"You learn from it [Game 7s]. You learn what the atmosphere is like. You know, you know when the ball gets heavy," Antetokounmpo said.

The 2021-22 version of the Bucks is far better and more battle-tested than the last time the squad saw the C's in a Game 7. In 2018, Boston eliminated Milwaukee in the first round of the playoffs.

Antetokounmpo has won two NBA MVPs and an NBA Finals MVP since then, and he's no stranger to coming through in the clutch in the playoffs either, as evidenced by his 50 points to close out the Phoenix Suns in last year's NBA Finals.

Game 7 will go down Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET at TD Garden. The winner will play the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It's back-to-back for Nikola Jokic. 

For the second straight season, the Denver Nuggets center was named the NBA MVP, beating out Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks defending champion Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

For the latter part of the 2021-22 season, a heated MVP debate emerged between Jokic and Embiid backers, with Antetokounmpo emerging as a serious contender down the stretch. 

All three made a strong argument from a traditional counting stats perspective:

• Jokic: 27.1 PPG, 13.8 RPG, 7.9 APG, 58.3 percent from the field, 33.7 percent from three
• Embiid: 30.6 PPG (tops in the NBA), 11.7 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.5 BPG, 49.9 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from three, 11.8 free-throw attempts and 9.6 free throws made per game (both tops in the league)
• Antetokounmpo: 29.9 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.4 BPG, 55.3 percent from the field, 29.3 percent from three

The narrative for Jokic winning the award was that he led the Nuggets to 48 wins and a playoff berth despite being without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for the majority of the season, he's an advanced-stats darling and he posted historical marks this past season:

Embiid's case centered around him leading the league in scoring as the first center to do so since Shaquille O'Neal in the 1999-00 campaign.

But he was also the keystone of Philly's defense (the team's 107.8 defensive rating with Embiid on the court would rank fourth overall in the NBA) and led the team to 51 wins despite much of the season being clouded by the Ben Simmons controversy, as Embiid's long-time running mate sat out the season while demanding a trade until he was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets in the deal that sent James Harden to Philly. 

While Giannis and Jokic have now won the past four MVP awards, Embiid is still chasing his first. 

As for Antetokounmpo, he led the Bucks to 51 wins as well, and, like Embiid, a good chunk of his case for winning the award was his status one of the league's most impactful two-way players. The two-time MVP also finished second in scoring among qualifying players. 

In most seasons, any of Jokic, Embiid or Giannis would have been viable winners. But with all three putting up excellent campaigns, it turned into quite the race. Ultimately, voters sided with Jokic yet again. 

Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic reportedly won the NBA's 2022 MVP award for the second straight year, beating out Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid for the honor.

Speaking to reporters after Philly's 120-85 Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Embiid congratulated Jokic for winning the award, which has yet to be officially announced. He also said "there's no right or wrong" answer between himself, Antetokounmpo, Jokic and even Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker for the honor.

Many believed Embiid, this year's scoring champion, should have been named the league's MVP after he put together the best statistical season of his career. He was also the first center since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to be named scoring champion.

The 28-year-old averaged 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 49.9 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from deep in 68 regular-season games. He also averaged 1.1 steals and 1.5 block per game.

Embiid's career year helped the Sixers finish fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 51-31 record. They were technically tied for the second-best record in the East, but the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks earned the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, because of tiebreakers.

What's even more impressive about Embiid's performance is that he did it without a true No. 2 beside him as Ben Simmons sat out until he was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. That said, Tyrese Maxey also had a career year and blossomed into a star for the Sixers.

Even 76ers head coach Doc Rivers was disappointed that Embiid didn't win the award, telling reporters before Tuesday's Game 5 that he's unsure what more the 2014 third overall pick could have done"

I don't know if a guy could've done more than he did this year, play without the second-best player [Ben Simmons] all year. Listen, his resume was great. I'm not taking anything away from Jokic either, because he's a hell of a player.

I do think this whole analytic-driven society, world is out of control at times with some of the measures that they use. Like, watch the dang game and decide is what I've always said.

Jokic was still deserving of the honor, especially considering he led a severely depleted Nuggets team, which was without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for much of the season, to the playoffs.

The 27-year-old also improved upon his numbers from the 2020-21 season, when he won his first MVP award. He averaged a career-high 27.1 points and 13.8 rebounds, in addition to 7.9 assists and 1.5 steals, in 74 regular-season games.

In addition, Jokic shot 58.3 percent from the floor and 33.7 percent from deep and became the first player in NBA history to record 2,000 points (2,004), 1,000 rebounds (1,019), and 500 assists (584) in a single season.

Considering Embiid is just 28 years old, he still has plenty of time to add an MVP trophy to his numerous accolades. Who knows, maybe it will come as early as next season. 

Disney released a trailer Tuesday for Rise, a biographical movie about the life of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers, Thanasis and Kostas, who became the first trio of siblings to all win an NBA championship.

The film is set for a June 24 release on the Disney Plus streaming platform:

In October, Disney announced Giannis would serve as executive producer for the project alongside director Akin Omotoso and producer Bernie Goldmann.

"I am thrilled and honored that Disney+ is bringing my family's story to people all over the world," the two-time NBA MVP said. "My hope is that it will inspire those in similar circumstances to keep the faith, stay true to their goals and not to give up on striving for a better life."

Disney stated the movie would showcase "how one family's vision, determination and faith lifted them out of obscurity to launch the career of three NBA champions." Here's a full synopsis:

After emigrating to Greece from Nigeria, Vera and Charles Antetokounmpo struggled to survive and provide for their five children, while living under the daily threat of deportation. With their oldest son still in Nigeria with relatives, the couple were desperate to obtain Greek citizenship but found themselves undermined by a system that blocked them at every turn. When they weren't selling items to tourists on the streets of Athens with the rest of the family, encouraged by their father, the brothers would sneak away to play basketball with a local youth team. Latecomers to the sport, they discovered their great abilities on the basketball court and worked hard to become world class athletes. With the help of an agent, Giannis entered the NBA draft in 2013 in a long-shot prospect that would change not only his life but the life of his entire family.

Uche Agada plays the lead role of Giannis in the film.

Antetokounmpo has emerged as one of the NBA's best players across nine years with the Bucks. After racking up numerous individual accolades, he guided Milwaukee to a championship in 2021 while being named the NBA Finals MVP.

Thanasis was also a member of the Bucks' title-winning squad last year, while Kostas won a ring with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.

They have two other brothers: Francis, a soccer player, and Alex, who plays for the Toronto Raptors' affiliate in the G League.

The 2022 NBA Finals are scheduled to conclude no later than June 19, the date of a possible Game 7, so the timing of the release matches up perfectly with the end of the season.

It'll be particularly fitting if the Bucks are able to successfully defend their title. They are currently tied with the Boston Celtics at two games apiece in a second-round playoff series.

Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst called for the standard of NBA officiating to improve following Milwaukee's 103-101 Game 3 victory over the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA playoffs.

Horst told The Athletic's Eric Nehm he sympathizes with referees because of the difficulty of their job but that he believes there's a clear problem:

I mean this sincerely: I do respect that, at the end of the day, it is a hard job, right? I couldn't do their job. You couldn't do their job. Officiating is hard, just like playing is hard and coaching is hard, and I think we all have a standard of trying to get better and improve. And at the end of the day, that's what stood out to me. We have to improve. That wasn't a quality playoff basketball game, and I think officiating played a role in that. [...]

When you start looking at the numbers, it's just, it's pretty outrageous. And I think our players and Boston's players just deserve to have it be addressed and have it be looked at and to just have some improvement.

The Bucks attempted half (17) as many free throws as the Celtics (34), who had a 14-point edge in scoring at the charity stripe. Giannis Antetokounmpo alluded to his frustration with the officiating but quipped he didn't want to incur a fine because he's "got to pay for diapers":

Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was more blunt, telling reporters how he got the impression league officials "want guys to flop more" because that's the easiest way to draw a foul.

Complaining about the referees is nothing new, especially in the playoffs. Coaches and players always look to gain an edge, including attempting to influence how games are officiated.

For Horst, expecting a systemic change to which he seemingly referenced might be unrealistic in the space of a postseason series.

The Milwaukee Bucks looked downright unbeatable during a 12-point victory in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics.

Not so much in Game 2.

A desperate Boston team salvaged a split in the first two games at home with a 109-86 victory Tuesday. The Celtics wasted no time setting the tone while jumping out to a 25-point halftime lead and rode that cushion all the way to a win against a Bucks squad that looked "terrible" at times.

Even without Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, the Celtics won the game with their early defense. Grant Williams and Al Horford in particular stood out as they formed a wall around the rim and bodied Giannis Antetokounmpo as he scored just five points on 2-of-12 shooting before halftime.

The two-time MVP figured things out in the second half and finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, but it was Jaylen Brown's star power that shone through when the game was still hanging in the balance in the early going.

He poured in 17 points in the first quarter alone on his way to 30 while dropping Grayson Allen to the ground and bouncing back from a 12-point and seven-turnover performance in Game 1.

While the Celtics still lost home-court advantage by falling short in Game 1, they now have some momentum on their side as the series shifts to Milwaukee for Saturday's Game 3.