Suns Go Up 2-0 in the NBA Finals
- Matt Elvy
- Jul 9, 2021
- 3 min read
The Suns defeat the Bucks 118-108 in game 2 of the NBA Finals.
In a thrilling game 2 the Suns head in to game 3 with a 2-0 lead, for the 3rd straight Playoff series.
Devin Booker led the way in this one with 31 points, shooting an impressive 7 of 12 from 3. The Bucks increased defensive pressure at the beginning of the game saw Book struggle at first, starting the game 0/6 and 2/8 to finish the 1st quarter, however over the remaining 3 quarters he shot a fantastic 10 of 17. Though the shooting numbers are great, it was the timing of many of these buckets, especially in the 2nd half. Every time the Bucks made a run, there was Book hitting a 3 or a patented middy. He added 5 rebounds and 6 assists, joining some esteemed company.
Thanks @BallisLife for that stat.
The Suns also benefitted from a Playoff career high for Mikal Bridges. The Suns big 3 of Book, CP3 and Ayton struggled in the 1st quarter, as the Bucks aimed their defensive intensity at them, daring the other Suns players to score. Bridges stepped up draining 2 3-pointers to help open up the floor. Mikal finished the game 27 points and 7 rebounds.
Jae Crowder also had a bounce-back game on the offensive end, after shooting 0 of 8 in game 1. In game 2 he had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Along with Bridges, Crowder also started the game strong, keeping us in reach of the Bucks hot start.
Chris Paul had another historic night, as he cracked the Top 10 in career Playoff assists. He has 1041, averaging 8.3 over his Playoff career. As mentioned the Bucks did a better job defensively on CP3 than they did in game 1. They did well taking the CP3 - Ayton pick and roll away from the Suns and part of this was down to the defense from Jrue Holiday, who guarded Paul for the whole game. In just the 1st quarter Paul uncharacteristically had 2 turnovers and had 6 for the game. CP3 was still able to get going though. The Suns went to Book a lot as the lead guard, which allowed Chris to get off the ball for some open catch and shoot 3's. He finished with 23 points and 8 assists, shooting 10 of 20 overall and 3 of 5 from 3.
The Bucks also took Ayton out of the game early, as they upped their pick and roll defense. They also made sure that they put a body on him every time he was in the paint. They used PJ Tucker on switches to try and use his strength to keep DA away from the boards. It worked a bit, but he was still able to finish with 10 rebounds. Milwaukee were able to stop him being as impactful on the offensive end though, as he shot 4 of 10, which is way below what we've seen recently. One of my favourite parts of the broadcast was when they showed this interaction between DA and Monty.
I'm sure DA will be back with a vengeance in game 3. As we've seen all season he bounces back excellently from poor scoring performances.
After game 1 many Bucks fans complained about the amount of free throws the Suns were able to get compared to them. Well in this game the refs whistle went Milwaukee, well specifically, Giannis' way most of the game. The Bucks attempted 23 free throws vs the Suns' 14. Speaking of Giannis, he was amazing scoring 42 points. I won't go in to detail, but watch his historic 3rd quarter.
The Bucks needed that type of performance in the 3rd from him, as the Suns held them to only 16 points in the 2nd quarter. Their defense was brilliant, but it's this beautiful play on offense to end the 2nd that's been getting the attention online (and rightly so to be fair).
One more thing, the Suns were scorching from downtown. They shot 20 of 40 from 3-point land and that is the most in Suns Playoff history and the 2nd most in NBA Finals history.
As always, here's the game flow from @Viziball
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