Piece by: Alex Cuthbert
Finally! An exciting finals game! The first three games in the series between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks were basically over halfway through the fourth quarter or even earlier. But, finally, last night’s game gave us basketball fans what we all really want: a competitive, almost down to the buzzer game. Devin Booker was channeling his inner Kobe Bryant. Khris Middleton was albeit inefficient, but still knocked down big shots. And then there’s Giannis.
Giannis had a down game offensively, but his defense was on full display through the fourth quarter. He had a steal on an inbound pass, picked the ball up at the three point line, and dunked it down without even dribbling. How athletic do you have to be to not only tip a ball away from Deandre Ayton on an inbound pass, but in just two steps get from the three point line to the basket? Nuts! But the showcase play of this entire game and possibly the series was his incredible chase down block on Deandre Ayton down the stretch.
I don’t know if anyone remembers this, but only a couple years ago, LeBron James had a chase down block in a finals game that quite literally shows up in every single highlight reel I have ever watched. And if the Bucks end up winning this series, I think the same thing will happen with this play. So everyone better hope the Suns win, or every highlight reel made for the next five years will include ‘Blocked by Antetokounmpo,’ even if it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as blocked by James.
That play is almost the perfect summation of the night for the Bucks, who shot 41% from the field in a pretty awful offensive game. They won with great defense -even if Devin Booker had like 100 points on 20 shots-, their ability to play big against the Suns, and a healthy dose of Middleton middies. The offensive rebounding by the Bucks also really got out of hand in this game. When Deandre Ayton is off the floor, the Suns look completely incapable of grabbing boards consistently. And even when he is on the floor, the Bucks still manage to grab misses and put them back up with relative ease.
This game was a showcase on the game plan the Bucks should employ if they want to beat the Suns: draw fouls on Book to slow him down and make Chris Paul shoulder the offensive load by himself which he struggled with in this game, and draw fouls on Ayton not only to diminish his ability to positively affect the offense of the Suns, but also ensure that the Suns have almost a complete lack of ability to rebound the ball and end Bucks’ possessions. Jrue Holiday also needs to step up his consistency scoring the ball; shooting 4 of 20 from the field in a finals game is not acceptable. But as bad as Jrue Holiday was offensively, his game was pushed under the rug as Chris Paul somehow outdid Jrue at being awful.
Before I get into Chris Paul, I want to give some love to Khris Middleton. This man was the Bucks offense in Game 4 and he has stepped up in so many big moments throughout this playoff run regardless of Giannis’ presence on the floor. FEED THAT MAN. Giannis gets a lot of hate for not being the kind of superstar that you can just hand the ball to in big moments and say ‘go get us a bucket,’ but with Middleton on the floor, he doesn’t need to be that guy.
Giannis is definitely stepping his play up this postseason, and it’s partially the reason they are in the finals this year, but I’d argue that Cash-Money Khris is an even bigger reason. So put some respect on that man’s name and if the Bucks hope to win this series, they need to rely on Khris down the stretch on offense. That Giannis, Middleton pick and roll looks unstoppable and it really needs to play a big part of the game plan for the Bucks if they hope to win this championship.
Now onto the unfortunate part of this game; Chris Paul was not good, finishing with only 10 points and 5 bad turnovers.
These weren’t tipped pass turnovers, these were bad turnovers caused by carelessness with the basketball. They were mistakes that shouldn’t happen from a 36 year old player with some of the highest basketball IQ ever. The play we’re all thinking of is just a bit of a head scratcher. The Suns were down by 2 in the last minute of the game and had the ball with an opportunity to tie the game back up as CP drove into the lane. But he slipped, fell, lost the ball, and the Bucks scored a bucket down at the other end. That play basically sealed the Suns’ fate as they were then behind the 8-ball with no tricks left in the bag.
I’m not going to go into the officiating of this game regardless of how egregiously awful it was because I think each team got their fair share of calls and non-calls go their way. And controversy in a close, down to the wire game that really matters is what sports are all about. If every game was perfectly officiated and there was nothing to argue about around the table with your friends, why would any of us watch sports in the first place?
There are a lot of takeaways from this game from Giannis’ incredible defense to Booker’s incredible scoring ability to CP’s incredible meltdown, but this series is just beginning as it’s all tied up 2-2. And as much as it seems like the Bucks have the momentum, the Suns seem to have this uncanny ability to just hang on in games and I really don’t expect to see another game like this from Chris Paul.
Every time I’ve watched the Suns throughout the playoffs, it seems like they’re being dominated by the opposing team, but then I look down at the score and they’re still up by 2. This was the first fun game of this series watching Book and Middleton go off and seeing how Giannis’ defense can alleviate his need to be a bucker getter in the clutch. I think this game really revitalized the Finals and made it something worth watching come the next couple of games. I really don’t know where this series will go and I won’t make any predictions, but damn am I excited to watch.