Bucks need to focus: Giannis

MILWAUKEE • Milwaukee Bucks fans are buzzing over the possible end of a 50-year National Basketball Association (NBA) championship drought as their biggest star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, fights to keep his focus with a crown tantalisingly near.

The Bucks lead the best-of-seven NBA Finals 3-2 over the Phoenix Suns and a home-court victory in Game 6 this morning (Singapore time) will seal the deal.

Fans, around 20,000 of them, will fill the Fiserv Forum and 25,000 more will jam the "Deer District" outside to watch on huge video screens.

Anticipation is building in Milwaukee and in the state of Wisconsin, which last celebrated a major sports title when National Football League team Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl in 2010.

But Antetokounmpo wants to keep a lid on the excitement.

"You can feel the excitement in the city. But we've got to focus," the two-time Most Valuable Player said.

"We've got to do our job first. Then they can do their job celebrating at the end."

The Suns know they have to win to force a Game 7, which would take place in Phoenix tomorrow, and that makes the visitors especially dangerous.

"You work so hard to be in that moment. It's hard not to get ahead of yourself," Antetokounmpo said.

"But this is the time that you've got to be the most disciplined. Don't get too excited. Don't get too pumped up for the game. None of that.

"It's hard. Sometimes, you sleep and you're dreaming about the game. But this is the time that we have to be disciplined. We cannot worry about having plans of celebrating. None of that, until it's done."

Antetokounmpo will not even let himself ponder how it would feel to win the title in Milwaukee and is determined to stay in the moment.

"It would be nice to celebrate with the fans inside and outside and with our families, because this is something historical that's happening in the city right now," the Greek forward said.

"I can't focus on celebrating.

"You get too ahead of yourself. We've got to focus on right now, focus on each possession, compete as hard as possible and put ourselves in a position to be able to win."

The Bucks can become only the fifth team in Finals history to win the title after losing the first two games, a feat managed by stars like LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal and Bill Russell, but the Suns are just as determined to spoil the party in their bid to land their maiden championship.

"It brings out a sense of desperation, a sense of urgency, a sense of collectiveness within your group, knowing what you're battling," Phoenix forward Jae Crowder said.

"It's going to be a dogfight. You have to leave it all out on the court.

"It's all in our hands and the confidence is where it needs to be. We know what we have to do. We know the mental lapses we've been having are self-inflicted."

This is the first elimination game the Suns have faced this post-season but having witnessed his team bounce back from setbacks before, coach Monty Williams is confident his players will show their mettle in front of a hostile partisan crowd.

"It's certainly a point of focus moving forward," he said.

"We have a level of bounce-back on our team that allows for us to get the spirit back.

"We've talked about that, the deep play-off hurts that happen and the ability to bounce back from that. We're in the Finals. We got here for a reason and our guys can glean confidence from that."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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MILWAUKEE V PHOENIX

Finals, Game 6: StarHub Ch202, 9am