Down by double-digits early in the fourth quarter at home against the Hornets, Giannis picked the pocket of Willy Hernangómez and went the other way for a dunk.

A couple minutes after that, still down by double-digits, Giannis got loose for another dunk.

By the time he smashed on Bismack Biyombo less than a handful of minutes later, he had given the Bucks a 97–96 lead — their first lead of the second half, a lead they would not give up.

With that, Giannis had officially made right after bobbling a breakaway dunk attempt earlier in the game. His 6–7 accuracy on dunks in the game was lower than usual, but the six dunks were about the norm. He is up to 174 on the year, on pace to set a single-season NBA dunk record, at more than 3.7 per game. Roughly a quarter of his field goal attempts this season are dunks, and he has only missed one this year by my count.

An Abbreviated Giannis Shot Chart

Percent of field goal attempts as dunks: 24.3

The dunks do not stop in fourth quarters either, as the Hornets watched Giannis outscore them all by himself in the final 12 minutes to complete the comeback. When the Bucks need him to step up late in games, he has delivered the same level of MVP play as any other part of the game — if not even better.

Less than a handful of years ago, the talk — made infamous by Charles Barkley — was that a jump-shooting team could not win a championship. Now, conventional wisdom is the other way around, that you cannot win a championship without being a jump-shooting team. The Bucks are a prolific outside shooting team — second in the league in threes made per game, but somehow along the way, Bucks skeptics in the media have emerged, with reasons ranging from vague (the Celtics will throw a junk defense at Giannis) to nonsensical (you know).

Fourth quarters are not the playoffs, but the Bucks currently rate as one of the best fourth quarter teams in the NBA.

4th Quarter Average Margin

1. Celtics 2.5

2. Wizards 2.4

3. Bucks 2.3

4. Nuggets 1.8

5. Pacers 1.4

And they have been led by Giannis late in games, whose numbers have largely ticked up. In fourth quarters, he is averaging 7.3 points, fifth most in the league, and his most of any quarter. He has a case to make as the best fourth quarter player in the league this season, particularly when you consider both his offense and defense.

Fourth Quarter Top Scorers (But Also Look At The Other Numbers)

1. James Harden — 8.4 pts — 1.5 rbs — 1.3 asts — .382 / .303 / .882

1. LeBron James — 8.3 pts — 2.0 rbs — 1.1 asts — .477 / .389 / .727

3. Kemba Walker — 7.9 pts — 1.3 rbs — 0.8 asts — .481 / .437 / .817

4. Lou Williams — 7.5 pts — 1.0 rbs — 1.7 asts — .414 / .375 / .911

5. Giannis Antetokonmpo — 7.3 pts — 3.4 rbs — 1.4 asts — .569 / .323 / .736

6. Anthony Davis — 7.2 pts — 3.5 rbs — 0.8 asts — .495 / .222 / .771

7. Devin Booker — 6.9 pts — 1.2 rbs — 1.9 asts — .469 / .281 / .844

8. Bradley Beal — 6.8 pts — 1.2 rbs — 1.2 asts — .573 / .480 / .750

9. Jimmy Butler — 6.7 pts — 1.3 rbs — 0.9 asts — .507 / .500 / .822

10. Kyrie Irving — 6.6 pts — 1.1 rbs — 1.5 asts — .459 / .295 / .889

His efficiency and consistency has helped the Bucks to become the best team in the NBA, as the leader of what — more than a year after I declared them a big three — has at last become a real big three.

4th Quarter — Best Player Net Ratings

1. Eric Bledsoe: 22.6

2. Khris Middleton: 20.6

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 20.4

4. Kevin Durant: 19.6

5. Jacob Poeltl: 17.1

Barkley had underestimated the power and the consistency of the three-point shot when taken in volume as he watched a budding Warriors dynasty.

Mike Budenholzer and the Bucks have adopted a Giannis-and-spread-the-court approach that frees up the perimeter. So the Bucks are subject to the vagaries of hot and cold shooting nights to a degree, but in Giannis they have someone whose offensive approach is uniquely, consistently, nigh-unstoppable. He was not stopped by the second-ranked Celtics defense in the playoffs last year (racking up an absurd 26.6 PER), he is not getting less efficient in fourth quarters this season (as perhaps the best player in the league in final period), and he has excelled against MVP-level competition (more than any other contender).

Giannis had what for his standards was a relatively “off” night in Oklahoma City, missing his first six shots, stifled by one of the rangiest, most athletic, and best defenses in the NBA. He ended up with 27/18/4, including 14 points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter (a portion of which he played at the five, like he did in the comeback win against Charlotte, something we may see more of in the playoffs).

On Thursday night in Toronto, Giannis picked up his fifth foul on the first possession of the fourth quarter. He sat and watched for five minutes. With under two minutes to play, Kawhi Leonard had a chance to cut the lead to four. Giannis blocked him, went the other way, got fouled, hit both free throws, and that was that.