The Phoenix Suns overcame a big deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the Bucks, and then a blow to blow the overtime.
The Suns led 127-124 with less than a minute left, but Kris Middleton made a try to tie it with just 22 seconds left.
Then it was Devin Booker who had a shootout with just 0.3 seconds left, who set up the free throw for the win.
Booker made first place and then deliberately missed the second for the one point the Suns won.
It was a heavyweight fight, possibly the best game of the season, and it’s sweet justice that the Suns won this one.
Great games everywhere, but especially by both teams’ best players. Deandre Ayton had 20 and 13 with Giannis time and time again. Chris Paul and Devin Booker combined for 46 points, 20 assists and 14 rebounds.
Giannis conceded in overtime, but the Bucks shot just about every clutch anyway and the Suns barely won this one.
SUNS WEN, 128-127
The PA really played the song “You are my sunshine” for the Suns’ starting lineup. Was it a playful blow to the youth and inexperience? Move on.
Monty Williams decided to start Saric over Crowder. It would probably try to give an extra space to open the floor for Paul and Booker and to make Giannis spend more energy on defense so he could not use that much on offense. DiVincenzo also started for Milwaukee, despite the expectation that they would not be, which was a boost for the Bucks.
1st term
The Suns and Bucks started the game buckets and went back and forth from the jump. However, Dario was not at the top of his game as he was blocked by Brook Lopez and turned the ball over to the same game, followed by the Greek Freak kicking off the court.
At the end of the first quarter, the Suns trailed by one point with Chris Paul leading by 11 points. Giannis is played well by the Phoenix defense and starts 3-9 off the field.
2nd term
Cam Johnson, or the masked man, made the first two jumpers for five quick points, as well as Torrey Craig to start his revenge game with a three-pointer.
Giannis had his way in the quarter when he was 4-4 off the field and took care of the charity streak and scored 15 points.
Half-time statistics
Three-point shooting
Son 7-17 (.412)
Bucks 2-16 (.125)
Free throw
Book 11
Sun 2
The Suns ended the first quarter with 24-25, but the Bucks won the second quarter with 32-30) and ended the first half with 56-55. Just like the first game of the series took place this season, it was a close game.
With Devin Booker being 4-11 off the field and still in a bit of a slump, I would love to see him clap out of it. If not, the rest of the Suns will have to pick up the luxury and really do something about Antetokounmpo.
3rd term
Milwaukee started hitting their long-range bombs when they went 4-8 from deep for the quarter and started pulling away, outscoring Phoenix 35-27 in the quarter and taking a 90-83 lead.
Cam Payne scored 9 points during the period. Eddie Johnson said it right. “I told someone to act and he raised his hand.”
Giannis continued to attack the paint and finished third with 29 points.
4th term
The Suns, clearly bothered by the lack of service to support their cause, went out and played hard. The Point God led the way and in our Hall of Fame the guard reached another milestone and led the return.
With 4:49 left in the game, Jrue Holiday dipped it to give the Bucks a 109-102 lead. The Suns could have put their heads down, but they didn’t.
With 4:25 left, Ayton recorded a score that was 104-109.
With 4:05 left, CP3 dished it out from halfway to a wide open Booker under the edge for once. With that, Paul Magic Johnson succeeds for the 5th time in NBA history.
That reduced the backlog to three, followed by a right from Chris to Mikal for three, which tied the game at 2:55. Then Paul Crowder hit for a deep bomb to take a three-point lead.
The two clubs played it down to the wire to a controversial play where the Bucks owned a timeout without the ball. Do not ask me. Booker missed a try and it was OT then.
Overtime
Both teams exchange buckets until the last seconds. In the last moments, Jrue had to watch for Booker who did Book stuff. With a tie of 0.3 seconds, Devin leveled the offense and made the first free throw to ice it. He missed the second and that’s all she wrote, people!