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The Milwaukee Bucks took Game 3 of the 2021 NBA Finals on their home floor, thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo's 41-point performance.
The Greek Freak has now had back-to-back NBA Finals games with 40+ points and 10+ rebounds, earning him comparisons with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal.
He is now amongst elite company of NBA Finals performers, with Antetokounmpo's exploits getting fans to reminisce about some of the all-time greats with historically high NBA Finals averages.
As the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks prepare for Game 4, here's a look at the five players with the highest points per game (PPG) in an NBA Finals series.
#5 Jerry West - 1969 NBA Finals
Average: 37.9 points per game across 7 games.
Also known as 'Mr Clutch', Jerry West is regarded as one of the best NBA Finals performers of all time. He holds the record for the most 20+point NBA Finals games (49), most 30+point Finals games (31), most 40+point Finals games (10) and also the most 50+point Finals games (1).
In the 1969 NBA Finals, Jerry West and the LA Lakers, along with Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor went up against the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics dynasty. The Finals series went to a Game 7, but West's Lakers didn't get to lift the Larry O'Brien trophy. However, Jerry West did receive the inaugural NBA Finals MVP trophy despite being on the losing team.
Jerry West dropped 53 points and ten assists in the Game-1 victory, 41 points in Game 2, 24 points in Game 3, 40 points in Game 4, 39 points in Game 5, 26 points in Game 6, and 42 points and 12 assists in Game 7.
#4 Shaquille O'Neal - 2000 NBA Finals
Average: 38.0 points per game across 6 games.
Shaquille O'Neal is easily one of the most dominant centers we have ever seen. His ability to punish the rim and break backboards is well documented.
He is the only player since Michael Jordan to win three straight Finals MVP awards. After getting swept by the Utah Jazz in 1998 and then by the San Antonio Spurs in 1999, Shaquille O'Neal took his game up a notch in 2000. He led the league in scoring that season, won the league MVP and also led the LA Lakers to the championship.
Shaquille O'Neal averaged 38.0 points per game on a whopping 61% from the field, including an incredible 16.7 rebounds per game.
He won the NBA Finals MVP that series and went on to win two more in a row with the LA Lakers. 'Big Diesel' dropped 43 points and 19 rebounds in Game 1, 40 points and 24 rebounds in Game 2, 33 points and 13 rebounds in Game 3, 36 points and 21 rebounds in Game 4, 35 points and 11 rebounds in Game 5, and 41 points and 12 rebounds in Game 7.
#3 Elgin Baylor - 1962 NBA Finals
![Elgin Baylor of the LA Lakers in the 1962 NBA Finals [Source: Los Angeles Times]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/07/f7b9a-16261109263148-800.jpg)
Average: 40.6 points per game across 7 games.
Elgin Baylor is one of the NBA's greatest athletes never to have won an NBA Finals series. He spent 14 seasons with the Minneapolis/ LA Lakers and was an 11-time All-Star.
In the 1962 NBA Finals, Baylor did the unthinkable and dropped the only 60+-point game in NBA Finals history, registering 61 points and 22 rebounds in Game 5 against the Boston Celtics.
He averaged 40.6 points per game in seven games in that NBA Finals series but lost Game 7 to the Bill Russell-led Celtics dynasty.
Elgin Baylor dropped 35 points and 17 rebounds in Game 1, 36 points and 12 rebounds in Game 2, 39 points and 23 rebounds in Game 3, 38 points and 14 rebounds in Game 4, 61 points and 22 rebounds in Game 5, 34 points and 15 rebounds in Game 6, and 41 points and 22 rebounds in Game 7 to cap off a historic NBA Finals run.
#2 Rick Barry - 1967 NBA Finals
Average: 40.8 points per game across 6 games.
In his sophomore season in the NBA, Rick Barry led the San Francisco Warriors to the NBA Finals on his playoff debut. He fell short in six games to Wilt Chamberlain's 76ers, though, the new team in Philadelphia that had replaced the Warriors.
Barry averaged a whopping 40.8 points per game as a 23-year-old after a historic NBA playoff run. He dropped 55 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3 to earn his first-ever NBA Finals victory, the second-highest scoring total in an NBA Finals game since Elgin Baylor's 61 points in 1962.
He led the Warriors franchise to the 1975 NBA championship, winning the Finals MVP in the process, but many have forgotten his historic second-year playoff run.
He dropped 37 points in Game 1, 30 points and 10 rebounds in Game 2, 55 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3, 43 points in Game 4, 36 points and 10 rebounds in Game 5, and 44 points in Game 6 to cement his legacy as one of the best NBA Finals performers of all time.
#1 Michael Jordan - 1993 NBA Finals
Average: 41 points per game across 6 games.
Looking to achieve a three peat, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls took on the reigning league MVP, Charles Barkley, and the Phoenix Suns.
Jordan had already won three league MVPs, two Finals MVPs and seven scoring titles by this point, so he was always the player in the limelight. The Suns' entire defensive attention was on Jordan, yet he managed to drop 41 points per game in that NBA Finals, the most by any player.
He dropped four straight 40+-point games, including 55 points in Game 4 in Phoenix, tied with Rick Barry for the second-highest scoring total in NBA history behind Elgin Baylor's 61.
Michael Jordan had 31 points and five steals in Game 1, 42 points and 12 rebounds in Game 2, 44 points in Game 3, 55 points in Game 4, 41 points in Game 5. and 33 points in Game 6 to win his third straight NBA title and Finals MVP award.
Also Read: Who is the only NBA player to win the Finals MVP for a losing team?
