SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The Milwaukee Bucks fell two games short of the NBA Finals.

They won big at the NBA Awards.

A tearful Giannis Antetokounmpo earned Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors and Mike Budenholzer won Coach of the Year on Monday night (Tuesday, PHL time) in Santa Monica.

Antetokounmpo, a 24-year-old forward from Greece, beat out Paul George of Oklahoma City and James Harden of Houston, who won last year.

Antetokounmpo was a resounding winner. He received 941 points and 78 first-place votes in the balloting — 165 points more than Harden.

Harden finished second with 776 points and 23 first-place votes.

“MVP is not about stats and numbers, and obviously James Harden had unbelievable numbers and Paul George also, but obviously it’s about winning,” Antetokounmpo said backstage. “We created great habits throughout the season and were able to stick by them, and that’s why we were able to have a chance in every single game we played and were able to win 60 games.”

Meanwhile, Lou Williams was voted the Sixth Man of the Year for the second season in a row and third time in his career.

Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz won Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season while Pascal Siakam of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors earned Most Improved Player.

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks easily won Rookie of the Year. (Beth Harris, Associated Press)