The Suns beat Bucks on national TV, 125-124, for their signature win.
The beginning of the game was to decipher confrontations. The Suns started Frank Kaminsky again, which means that Deandre Ayton started the game at Giannis Antetokounmpo. On the other hand, instead of letting Donte DiVincenzo try his luck with Devin Booker, the Bucks went with Khris Middleton and then hid Bryn Forbes in Mikal Bridges.
The Suns also did a good job at the start of the game, making Booker lose control and designing sets around Chris Paul, meeting him at the beginning of the clock. The main beneficiary of Booker’s gravity and Paul’s playability in those places was, in fact, Ayton, as the great man started the game with six points.
This pistol action at the beginning of the watch is a perfect example:
Both offenses started very clearly, with Suns opening the game 13-19 on the field, with 10 assists for just one turn. However, Milwaukee led by one after a 1:56 timeout in the first because the Bucks were 6-12 deep and caught three offensive rebounds. Predictably, Antetokounmpo also got everything he wanted in the transition as a scorer.
At the end of one, the score was tied at 32, and Giannis and Ayton had 10.
In the second half, the Suns simplified things a lot and still managed to offend a lot. Most of the time, they operated with Paul-Ayton’s pick and roll or with Ayton as a dribble transfer initiator.
If the Suns manage to give Booker or Ayton an open three-pointer in the corner, that possession is a huge victory for them. This happened, with a plate of Langston Galloway and a triple Paul, early on.
Shortly thereafter, Bucks began to warm up from the depths, with Forbes in particular getting easy looks over and over again. The Suns made their own race to reduce the Bucks lead to seven in an Ayton three, but Milwaukee got hot again at that point.
They were 13-24 deep in the first half.
Booker did everything he could to score in isolation to keep the Suns in the game, including a foul on Middleton with four seconds left, but Milwaukee went into the locker room at halftime 69-59.
To open the second half, Giannis continued to reach the basket, scoring two fouls on Kaminsky early on. But the Bucks’ attack in general eased, mainly because the three-point luck started to balance.
The Suns took advantage, and after Bridges and Paul nailed it, the Suns reduced the lead to four and the Bucks took a break.
Milwaukee’s lead was between 5 and 10 for most of the third quarter, with most of the damage being done by Bridges, Booker and Giannis. In particular, Giannis was relentless in reaching the free-throw line, attempting 12 free throws only in the third.
Despite all this, the Suns stayed on course and scored enough to keep pace, which meant that in addition to the Bucks’ cold shot, the Suns was able to make a late run once Giannis left which brought them inside. three, 101- 98
The Suns made three consecutive trebles to open the fourth and take a 107-101 lead, as the Bucks left many Suns players open and made Milwaukee call. The same rhythms as the rest of the game continued on Wednesday, when Giannis entered aggressively and hit a tray or foul, while the Suns continued to execute their attack, move the ball and kick.
However, Ayton had to check out at 8h48 from the end of the fourth half, after suffering his fifth foul, and Kaminsky predictably fought. The Suns tried Crowder at Giannis too (because Brook Lopez was out there), and it wasn’t much better. The game was a shootout, and those usually prefer the best offense, which has been Milwaukee most of the year.
With Ayton eliminated in the middle of the fourth, Booker fouled Middleton and the Suns landed a Crowder three at the entrance, so Paul drew a charge on Forbes. To complete the sequence, Paul made a mid-range jump over Lopez to put the Suns in six.
The Suns asked for a timeout with 4:30 and the lead, 118-114.
Ayton checked in a moment later with five fouls, but the Suns remained diligent and did not put him in a bad situation to be called for a foul. Booker then asked for a switch to put Middleton on him and hit a mid-range jumper, then did it again and got a three to go down.
But in a short time, the Bucks cut a five-point lead to a draw. Booker reached his usual favorite spot on the elbow for a jumper, but he missed, so Ayton turned him around trying to distribute it. Middleton reached a three transition at the other end. Next time, Giannis hit the nail on the head and tied the game at 124.
Fortunately, Booker had another chance at isolation at Middleton and scored a foul, then made one of his two free throws to climb one.
With about 32 seconds to go, Bucks asked for a timeout. Then Giannis turned the ball on a crossbar against Crowder. At the other end, Booker missed another pull-up jump, Lopez grabbed a loose ball rebound and hit Crowder, then Giannis was forced to jump to tie him up.
Clank.