Game 6 of the NBA Finals will tip off at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. If the Bucks win, then the watch party in the Deer District will likely go berserk. If the Suns win, then a series-deciding Game 7 will be Thursday night in Phoenix.
The gates to the Deer District will open at 6 p.m. local time (CT), and fans are encouraged to RSVP before making their way to the party. This comes as COVID-19 is starting to surge again in the U.S. with the new Delta variant.
The Bucks, who were the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, are led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. The 6-foot-11 power forward was the league’s back-to-back MVP following the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The 26-year-old grinned Monday when asked about the pressure of finally getting the chance to put NBA champion on his resume.
“It’s hard, man,” Antetokounmpo said on ESPN. “It’s hard. Because you work so hard to be in that moment, which is tomorrow. It’s hard not to get ahead of yourself.
“But this is the time that you got to be the most disciplined. That’s what I’m going to try to do. I’m going to try to be as disciplined as possible. Don’t get too excited. Don’t get too pumped up for the game. None of that. I can’t play the game right now … right now, there’s nothing I can do about that. So I don’t even try to think about that. But it’s very hard not to. Sometimes you sleep and you’re dreaming about the game.”
Antetokounmpo had a scary knee injury during the playoffs, and many wondered if he would return. He worked the kinks out from the hyperextended knee and finally made a comeback in Game 2 of the Finals, scoring 42 points in a loss that put the Suns ahead 2-0 in the series. Antetokounmpo dropped 41 points in a Game 3 win, and then 26 in a Game 4 win where teammate Khris Middleton scored 40.
Antetokounmpo then scored a team-high 32 points in the 123-119 win at Phoenix on Saturday. Now, the Bucks can win their first title since Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) led them to the only title in team history. The Bucks made the Finals again during 1974 before losing to the Boston Celtics in seven games.
Antetokounmpo said the team needs to stay balanced not only on the court, but mentally as well.
“But this is the time that we have to be disciplined individually … we got to be disciplined and we cannot worry about that. We cannot worry about having plans of celebrating. None of that, until it’s done. And that is the mindset I’m going to have until tomorrow.”