Thirty Minutes Is Enough

Under the Bucks' energetic, up-tempo offense and defense, the defending champion Grizzlies looked like a sports car bogged down in mud.

No matter how powerful a sports car was, it could not move through mud any faster than a tractor.

The Milwaukee Bucks were that tractor. Under normal circumstances, they could not outrun anyone.

But under certain circumstances, a tractor could win a race.

From the opening tip, the Bucks had held the upper hand.

Brandon Knight had played with incredible aggression today. He craved exposure; he did not want to live under Irving's shadow for the rest of his career.

Antetokounmpo had also played extremely hard. Several of his drives had left Link struggling to contain him.

Eight minutes into the first quarter, Link came off Randolph's screen and drove to the basket.

He had thought he could easily finish the layup and cut into the deficit, but the moment Link jumped, the long-limbed Antetokounmpo came down on him with a vicious rejection.

That play completely filled the Bucks fans with confidence. It was common enough to see Link soar in for blocks on others, but seeing Link get swatted like that was not the kind of spectacle one could find just anywhere.

After being blocked by Antetokounmpo, Link even wondered if he had been tricked!

That kid's goofy act before the game had all been fake, hadn't it!? Was he trying to play the pig to eat the tiger!

In truth, Antetokounmpo's admiration for Link was genuine. And precisely because he admired Link, Antetokounmpo had played so seriously. He had been looking forward to this game for a very, very long time.

A week earlier, when Link had won in overtime in San Antonio, Antetokounmpo had texted Austin to express his excitement.

A serious Antetokounmpo facing an exhausted