BACK IN IT
Giannis’ 41 points help cut Bucks’ deficit in series to 2-1
Milwaukee Bucks fans waited a long time for this.
Their patience was rewarded. In the first NBA Finals game in the city in 47 years, the Bucks put together a complete effort and pulled away for a 120-100 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 3 on Sunday at Fiserv Forum.
Milwaukee took control with a big run to end the third quarter and the Bucks narrowed Phoenix’s advantage in the best-of-seven series to 2-1. The Bucks can get back to level in Game 4 at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Fiserv Forum.
Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to burnish his playoff legend with 41 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Jrue Holiday added 21 points and nine assists while Khris Middleton chipped in 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a rare game this postseason where all three of the Bucks’ “Big Three” had strong performances in the same game.
Antetokounmpo continued his run of stellar play after suffering an injury
scare in the Eastern Conference finals against the Atlanta Hawks. According to Stat Muse, Antetokounmpo joined Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 as the only player to have at least 40 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back Finals games.
After tough shooting nights in Game 3, Middleton and Holiday started better at Fiserv Forum.
Holiday opened the scoring by canning a three-pointer. He then played tough defense on Devin Booker to force a shot-clock violation. Holiday, however, missed his next three attempts from long range.
Middleton and Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with seven points in the first quarter. Antetokounmpo looked like he was laboring and briefly subbed out after just 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He checked back in a few minutes later and had a dunk.
Phoenix grabbed the lead at 23-21 when Booker nailed a three at the 3:43 mark. The Suns’ biggest advantage of the first quarter came at 28-23 after Jae Crowder sank a triple.
Phoenix was up, 28-25, after the first quarter but Milwaukee scored the first five points of the second to grab back the lead.
But the Suns responded with an 8-0 run and Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer called a timeout after Phoenix’s Cam Payne dropped in a floater with 9:05 left in the second.
Suns coach Monty Williams had to call a timeout of his own at the 6:45 mark after Antetokounmpo gave the Bucks the lead again at 39-38 with a monstrous, two-handed dunk. That play happened after P.J. Tucker hustled down a loose ball when Brook Lopez badly missed a three, then Tucker found Antetokounmpo cutting down the lane.
After the timeout and a miss from the Suns’ Frank Kaminsky, Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play and then backed down two defenders in the paint to score under the basket.
The Fiserv crowd reached full throat when Antetokounmpo rampaged down the court after a rebound, side-stepped around Kaminsky and dropped in a layup for a 50-42 lead. That prompted another timeout by the Suns.
The Bucks’ lead ballooned to 58-45 after Holiday found Tucker in the right corner for a three-pointer, then Bobby Portis scored five quick points on a fastbreak dunk and a triple from the wing.
Middleton added two free throws after DeAndre Ayton’s third foul, Chris Paul missed a fadeaway three at the buzzer and Milwaukee went into the locker room with a 60-45 lead.
The three-pointers from Portis and Tucker helped improve the Bucks’ shooting from deep to 5 for 18 (27.8%). The Suns were even worse at 2 for 14 (14.3%) in the first half. Phoenix was coming off sinking 20 three-pointers in Game 3.
The Bucks scored 22 points in the paint in the second quarter. Antetokounmpo (18) and Middleton (15) paced Milwaukee offensively in the first half.
Crowder gave the Suns a lift early in the third quarter by knocking down a couple three-pointers. Phoenix whittled
Bucks center Brook Lopez scores as Suns center Deandre Ayton looks on during the first half of Game 3 on Sunday.
the deficit down to 69-63 after five straight points by Cameron Johnson, including a three-point play on a vicious dunk over P.J. Tucker, and a fast-break dunk from Mikal Bridges.
A three-pointer by Johnson made it 74-70, but Holiday eased the tensions in the building by nailing a step-back three-pointer. Holiday added another triple a minute later to expand the Bucks’ lead to 80-71.
The Bucks closed the third quarter strong with a 16-0 run punctuated by Pat Connaughton’s three-pointer at the buzzer. That gave Milwaukee its biggest lead of the game at 98-76. Antetokounmpo had seven points during the run.
The Bucks scored the first three points of the fourth quarter to extend the run before Crowder nailed a three.
Milwaukee cruised the rest of the way, reaching its biggest lead at 101-76.