The Suns took down the Bucks on national TV, 125-124, for their distinctive victory.
The beginning of the game was about deciphering matches. The Suns restarted Frank Kaminsky, which meant Deandre Ayton started the game on Giannis Antetokounmpo. On the other hand, rather than letting Donte DiVincenzo try Devin Booker, the Bucks went with Khris Middleton and hid Bryn Forbes on Mikal Bridges.
The Suns also did a good job early in the game of loosening Booker and designing sets around Chris Paul who found him early in the clock. However, the biggest advantage of Booker’s gravity and Paul’s playing skills in those places was Ayton, as the big man started the game with six points.
This earlier pistol action is a perfect example:
Both offenses started out pretty sharp, with the Suns opening the game 13-19 off the field with 10 assistants to just one turnover. Milwaukee, however, led to a timeout at the first point of 1:56 as the Bucks were 6-12 from deep and grabbed three offensive setbacks. Predictably, Antetokounmpo also got just about everything he wanted in the transition as a goal scorer.
At the end of one, the score was tied at 32, and Giannis and Ayton both had ten.
In the second quarter, the Suns simplified matters very well and yet managed to get a big offense out of it. They mostly work from Paul-Ayton picks and reels or through Ayton as a dribble initiator.
If the Suns manage to get Booker or Ayton an open catch-and-shoot try in the corner, that possession is a big win for them. It happened with a dish from Langston Galloway and a Paul triple, early in the first.
Shortly thereafter, the Bucks started warming up from deep down, and Forbes in particular kept getting easy looks. The Suns made their own run to reduce the Bucks’ lead to seven on a try from Ayton, but Milwaukee got hot again at that point.
They came from deep in the first half 13-24.
Booker did everything in his power to score in isolation to keep the Suns in the game, including a foul on Middleton with four seconds left, but Milwaukee went 69-59 to locker room at halftime.
To open the second half, Giannis continued to get to the basket and made two mistakes on Kaminsky early on. But the Bucks offense has generally fallen silent, mostly because the three-point happiness is starting to level off.
The Suns took advantage, and after both Bridges and Paul nailed the appearance of deep open, the Suns cut the lead to four and the Bucks took a time-out.
The lead in Milwaukee remained between five and ten for most of the third quarter, with most damage done by Bridges, Booker and Giannis. In particular, Giannis was ruthlessly getting to the free-throw line and he only tried to throw 12 in the third time.
Despite all that, the Suns stayed on track and scored enough to keep up, meaning the Suns, except for the Bucks’ cold shot, were able to make a late run once Giannis went out, which they did within three, 101- brought. 98.
The Suns scored three consecutive tries to open fourth place and take a 107-101 lead as the Bucks left many Suns players open and made Milwaukee pay. The same rhythms of the rest of the game continued into the fourth series as Giannis drove aggressively inside and received either a penalty or a foul while the Suns still carried out their offense, moving the ball and making shots.
However, Ayton had to stay with 8:48 left in the fourth after suffering his fifth offense, and Kaminsky predictably struggled. The Suns also tried Crowder on Giannis (because Brook Lopez was there), and it didn’t go much better. The game was a shootout, and those usually preferred the better offense, which was Milwaukee most of the year.
With Ayton about halfway through the fourth, Booker made a foul on Middleton and the Suns got a Crowder try from the inbound direction, and then Paul drew a complaint on Forbes. To complete the series, Paul made a mid-range jumper over Lopez to put the Suns on six.
The Suns called a timeout with 4:30 and the lead, 118-114.
Ayton reported a moment later with five fouls, but the Suns were diligent and did not put him in a bad situation to be called for a foul. Booker then asks for a switch to get Middleton on him, and nails a mid-range jumper, does it again and gets a try to go down.
But before long, the Bucks cut a five-point lead to a draw. Booker came to his usual favorite spot at the elbow for a jumper, but he missed it, and Ayton turned it over and tried to erase it again. Middleton scored a transition try on the other side. Next time, Giannis hit it home to tie the game at 124.
Luckily, Booker got another chance in isolation at Middleton and made a foul and then made one of his two free kicks to raise one.
With about 32 seconds left, the Bucks demanded a timeout. Then Giannis turned the ball over, on a pole against Crowder. On the other hand, Booker misses another pull-up jumper, Lopez grabs a loose ball rebound and runs into Crowder, when Giannis is forced into a jumper to tie it.
Clank.