Can the Bucks slow down Suns guards Paul and Booker again?
It sounds simple enough.
If the Milwaukee Bucks want to win their first NBA championship in 50 years, then they need to slow down the Phoenix Suns' superstar guard combo of Chris Paul and Devin Booker.
Paul and Booker combined to shoot 42 for 85 (49.4%), including 15 of 32 (46.9%) on three-pointers, as Phoenix won the first two games of the NBA Finals at home.
In Milwaukee's 120-100 victory in Game 3 at Fiserv Forum, the duo's shooting numbers dipped to 11 for 28 (39.3%), including 2 of 11 (18.2%) from long range.
The Bucks are studying what they did right and how they can replicate that effort with a chance to even the series in Game 4 on Wednesday.
“We didn't change a whole lot,” Bucks forward P.J. Tucker said Tuesday. “I think it was more of just our activity.
“Being able to get through screens, stay connected, show bodies, get out to other guys. It's hard because especially being off the ball, whether to help, whether to stay home, who you guard, and so many things go into it.”
Yes, stopping Paul and Booker is much easier in theory than on the
hardwood. Both are masterful running the pick-and-roll, with Paul being one of the all-time maestros. They are also proficient mid-range shooters, an area on the court that can often be exploited in the Bucks’ defense.
Tucker has a unique vantage point on the situation. He has long histories with both of the Suns’ shooting stars.
Tucker and Paul are both 36 years old and North Carolina natives, so they have competed against each other as AAU youngsters, in college with Paul at Wake Forest and Tucker at Texas, and now on the NBA’s biggest stage. They were also teammates with the Houston Rockets from 2017-19.
“Back then it was just the dream of being able to do this,” Tucker said. “When you’re kids, your entire life is all based on that, wanting to be here in these moments and be able to fight for a championship.”
Tucker has seen every angle of the pick-and-roll with Paul: As a screening teammate and as both an on-ball and off-ball defender.
“No two pick-and-rolls are the same,”
Tucker said. “There are always different people in it, so it’s just deciphering that and making the right decisions and calls at the point of the screen, whether it’s going over or under. Knowing the spacing on the floor.”
Tucker was also teammates with Booker on the Suns. When Booker was a rookie in the 2015-16 season, there were some epic one-on-one battles in practice. Tucker is well aware that Booker can easily drop 31 points like he did in Game 2.
“Being his teammate at that time and being the vet on the team, it was my job to make him better,” Tucker said. “I knew what I had to do for what he was going to see and what was coming and what he needed to be ready for.”
Tucker and Middleton are seeing the most time guarding Booker. Both offer different looks with Tucker’s physicality and Middleton’s length.
“I respect them to the highest degree,” Booker said. “This isn’t my first time playing against either of them. I was fortunate enough, and I’ve credited P.J. for developing my game in those early years. Getting to go against him every day in practice and understanding just how physical he is and how tough he is going to make it on you. So I respect both those guys a lot.”
Jrue Holiday, who was named to the NBA all-defensive first team this season along with teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo, has also chipped in on Booker but has been focusing most of his efforts on Paul over the last two games.
But stopping dynamic scorers is a team effort. The Bucks have shown a willingness to switch bigger players like Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez onto guards, especially late in the shot clock.
“He’s a great player, but he’s human also,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of Booker’s 3-for-14 shooting performance in Game 3. “But I think we’re expecting we’re going to have to be even better on him.
“Being able to throw different people on him - Tuck is an individual defender and then Jrue’s abilities and sometimes Khris and Giannis and Brook has his own way of impacting things. I wouldn’t say there was one specific thing or anything we did different. Obviously, there’s subtle little things that we’re trying to do. But we just got to be prepared for a really good Devin Booker going into Game 4.”
Holiday has taken on the unenviable task of trying to disrupt Paul. Holiday is skilled at navigating screens as a defender, crucial against the pick and roll. He’s also thrown in a new wrinkle by often guarding Paul almost the entire length of the court.
“I think I try to pick him up as close to full court as possible just so that I can frustrate him,” Holiday said. “Try to get him gassed, try to speed him up. And knowing that if I get beat or even him speeding up, I know that I have Brook behind me or my teammates behind me.
“I guess the strategy really is to make it as difficult on CP because he is the head of the snake, and if I can possibly get a turnover here and there, because he rarely turns the ball over. Or just get him thinking “Alright, well, Jrue is always here.’ That could be annoying, and that’s kind of my plan.”
It seems to be working. Paul has committed 10 turnovers over the last two games. In the four games he played against the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference finals, Paul coughed the ball up just eight times.
Not letting Booker get good looks. Throwing off Paul’s rhythm. The chess match will be compelling to watch the rest of the Finals.