San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
BUCKS TAKE CONTROL OF SERIES
Jrue Holiday seized his chance to give the Milwaukee Bucks the lead in the NBA Finals.
Took it right out of Devin Booker’s hands, actually.
Holiday’s steal and alley-oop pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo for a dunk sealed a wild Game 5 and gave the Bucks a 123-119 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
Antetokounmpo had 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Khris Middleton added 29 points, and Holiday had 27 points and 13 assists.
The Bucks fought their way out of an early 16-point hole by flirting with the best-shooting night in NBA Finals history, but then won it by making a huge defensive play for the second straight game.
They can win their first title since 1971 in Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
“One more to go. One more to go,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to keep playing good basketball.”
Booker had 40 points, his second straight 40-point game. But with the Suns rallying and down one with 16 seconds left, he drove into the middle and Holiday wrestled the ball out of his hands.
Antetokounmpo sprinted down the court to his right and Holiday fired a perfect lob pass that the Greek Freak slammed down while Chris Paul fouled him to make it 122119. Antetokounmpo missed the free throw, but the Bucks grabbed the rebound and Middleton made one free throw for the final point of the night.
Before the defensive stand, Milwaukee’s
Bucks 123, Suns 119
offense was the story. The Bucks made 32 of 45 shots in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Suns 79-53 during that stretch.
Milwaukee became the first road team to win in the series and with one more victory will complete its second 2-0 comeback in this postseason — along with the fifth in NBA Finals history.
Paul had 21 points and 11 assists, and Deandre Ayton finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. But the Suns missed a chance to move within a victory of their first championship and will need a victory at Fiserv Forum to bring the series back to the desert for Game 7 on Thursday night.
Milwaukee was at 62.1 percent shooting after three quarters, threatening to challenge Orlando’s 62.5 percent mark against the Lakers
in Game 3 of the 2009 finals. Holiday’s basket had the Bucks in good shape at 108-94 with about 9 minutes remaining, but the Suns put together a push in the final minutes.
Unseld to coach Wizards
The Washington Wizards reached an agreement with former Denver Nuggets assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. to replace Scott Brooks as coach, the team announced Saturday. Unseld is the son of former Washington Bullets legend Wes Unseld Sr. The agreement is a four-year deal, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.