Photo via Twitter / Bucks
The honeymoon phase of seeing the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals ended on Thursday night, as it became evident that Milwaukee will have plenty of work to do in order to get to a championship trophy.
Much like game one of the series, it never felt like the 118-108 contest was too far out of reach on Thursday. Milwaukee jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter, which looked promising, on the strength of some early plays from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday. The Bucks took a lead into the end of the first quarter, until Phoenix responded to tie things up midway through the second. Similar to Tuesday night’s opener, the Suns had a response for whatever Milwaukee threw at them. Every big shot was countered with a bigger shot from Phoenix, many of them coming from behind the three-point arc. It quickly became a contest to see who would fold first, and ultimately Milwaukee would do so.
The Suns began to mount a lead heading into halftime, with a 15-4 sequence in the final five minutes of the half that widened the margin to 11 points. While both teams traded baskets evenly in the third quarter, Phoenix took advantage of most of Milwaukee’s miscues to convert them into points. Devin Booker led the way for the Suns with 31 points, and was followed up by Chris Paul’s 23 to be the focal points of the offense. Booker made seven three-pointers on the night, and Phoenix shot an astounding 50% from three-point range to quiet the Bucks.
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While the night was big for Giannis, who finished with 42 points and 12 rebounds, there wasn’t much support around the Greek Freak. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton finished with 17 and 11 points respectively, far below what was going to be needed offensively to get the job done. Antetokounmpo came up big, but was not clear of some blame as well, going 11 for 18 from the free throw line, continuing a shaky stretch that has only been amplified by crowds jeering and chanting at every chance they could get.
Late in the game, Milwaukee was able to narrow the margin down to just six points, with Giannis getting to the line often and starting to convert both free throws when given the opportunity. Just as that momentum was starting to turn, though, a sequence that included three missed rebounds for Milwaukee developed into a Chris Paul three-pointer that effectively sent Milwaukee home packing. Again, the lead wasn’t impossible to overcome, but from a momentum standpoint, the Bucks were completely deflated on that play alone.
The Bucks will look to regroup on Sunday night, when game three of the NBA Finals tips off at 7 p.m. from Fiserv Forum, airing nationally on ABC. It’s the first of two home games for Milwaukee, and the first time the city has hosted an NBA Finals game since 1974. Milwaukee will need the support of Fiserv Forum to quell the Suns’ offense, and hopefully even up the series in games three and four. Fans can also cheer on the team outside of the arena in the Deer District. Get all of the information on playoff watch parties via the Bucks website.
