NBA Finals: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns, Part 3 | Bucks lead 3-2

[aboveAverage]

If the Bucks can force Booker to iso again, and he shoots just slightly less efficiently on contested jumpers, I’d feel confident about them winning game 6. Booker is basically their whole offense at the moment. And he’s been hitting some crazy difficult shots. How long can that hot streak continue?

[TheGOATRises007]

I would love a historical perspective on giannis insane finals stats, now that basketball reference play index is behind a pay wall lol.
32/13/5 on 63 TS % with ortg 136 drtg 114. obviously 91 jordan's finals is up there, also shaq in 02 was beast. How does the freak stack up?

One of the best finals performances ever.

He's been sensational.

He stacks up with anyone's best finals performance thus far.

[LoveMyRaps]

Booker ain't mature enough for the NBA finals. He ain't ready.

Yeah. Back to back 40+ games. Booker was really the reason the suns lost today.

40 points but on 33 shots. Booker is not managing the game or the tempo. He is just hunting for his own shots and killing the offense. This is why he is not on the level of players like Lebron, Luka, or Harden

It's not even the 33 shots, its just the lack of awareness down the stretch. He goes into tunnel vision mode and tries to do too much by himself, which unfortunately cost his team the game last night.

[Zeno]

I am really curious to see if the NBA brings in Scott Foster for game 6 or holds him for a possible game 7. He’s due to officiate one of the games, how do you think the NBA handles this?

[skones]

Welfare check on Slim Charless? I kNoW iLl Be HeRe

[GSP]

I feel like game 6 is gonna be a blowout for Milwaukee. Phoenixs shooting will regress and itll get ugly

[kazyv]

I feel like game 6 is gonna be a blowout for Milwaukee. Phoenixs shooting will regress and itll get ugly

i think winning the series overall will be a very tall order for the suns, because even if they win game 6, scott foster game 7 is looming over them. i don't like their chances

[KIRAG]

Next game will be the hardest game for the Bucks. They have the homecourt on their side but Suns will for sure adjust and I feel Booker will have more facilitating than what he's done the past few games.

He tried too much to be like Kobe and thought he would have his "legendary" moment and win the game for them but Jrue Holiday happened. Booker forgot even Kobe passed the ball to his teammates at crucial point of the game to win them a championship.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I have no dog in this fight but its impossible not to root for Giannis at this point.

Such an amazing story and good guy. Feels like he deserves it.

[durden_tyler]

i have a futures bet on the Bucks, wagered before the playoffs started (so 9.5x payout). Not sure if this is the time to hedge that bet (to bet on PHX). And as a basketball fan, i just want Chris Paul to win a ring so not sure what to do if i should hedge now or wait for Game 7

[DonaldSanders]

The amount of people anointing the Bucks like they won the title is a little funny. I like our situation but the idea that the Suns can't steal one in Milwaukee and force a game 7 is pretty silly. I will celebrate and wax poetic about legacies when it's actually over.

Yup. Also people forget momentum is weird; even though the Bucks just won 3 in a row depending on how the players react to the situaton, the Suns could benefit from feeling like they have nothing to lose. Monty might take bigger risks, and the urgency of being potentially eliminated is a big motivator. On the flip side for the Bucks after you've won 3 in a row you really feel like you should be able to continue the steam roll and win.

Obviously all of this could sound silly in that the momentum could crush a mostly young Suns team, but it really depends how both sides take it.

[ibraheim718]

If the Suns want to win they need to move away from trying to exploit mismatches because they don't have any.. that's how they got into the ISO-heavy offense and how guys like Cameron Johnson and Cam Payne disappeared.

Phoenix should focus on running their offense to get open shots for whoever gets them. Booker alone had 33fga's compared to 27 fga's for Payne, Craig, Crowder, Bridges, and Johnson. That's too easy for a team like the bucks to stop.. they just have to focus on 3 guys instead of all 5.

[SleepingDragon]

If the Suns cannot even win 1 road game in the NBA finals, they deserve to lose this series.

Someone else other than Booker needs to step up and have a great scoring game.

[ReddoverKobe]

Next game will be the hardest game for the Bucks. They have the homecourt on their side but Suns will for sure adjust and I feel Booker will have more facilitating than what he's done the past few games.

He tried too much to be like Kobe and thought he would have his "legendary" moment and win the game for them but Jrue Holiday happened. Booker forgot even Kobe passed the ball to his teammates at crucial point of the game to win them a championship.

What adjustments do you think they have left? Unless you consider the refs allowing Booker to just tackle people now an "adjustment".

[Strepbacter]

Next game will be the hardest game for the Bucks. They have the homecourt on their side but Suns will for sure adjust and I feel Booker will have more facilitating than what he's done the past few games.

He tried too much to be like Kobe and thought he would have his "legendary" moment and win the game for them but Jrue Holiday happened. Booker forgot even Kobe passed the ball to his teammates at crucial point of the game to win them a championship.

lol "even" Kobe. Good one. Prime Kobe was a way better playmaker than Booker, but nice try.

[WRau1]

None of these games have followed any kind of logic so I have no idea what's going to happen on Tuesday night. Giannis looked like he wasn't going to suit up again until next season, Bucks have won with PHX shooting lights out, Suns have won when Bucks had like a 88% chance of winning late in the 4th. Been a wild ride. Go Bucks.

[Bmaasse]

The amount of people anointing the Bucks like they won the title is a little funny. I like our situation but the idea that the Suns can't steal one in Milwaukee and force a game 7 is pretty silly. I will celebrate and wax poetic about legacies when it's actually over.

Yup, it all feels like a jinx. Most MIL fans are conditioned to not get excited for fear of something bad is about to happen, per usual.

Lol, not even close. We know there's still work to do, and the team knows as well.

[rolling_91]

What a great game 5. Very well played, very good execution. Let me just make this simple point so that the criticism is fair.

Phoenix has 3 guys in their starting lineup who can't create their own shot-- Ayton, Bridges and Crowder. All 3 of them need Paul to create offense for them. This wasn't a problem in previous series because none of the previous opponents could do anything to stop Paul. So they could just get to their spots and shoot wide open looks when Paul broke teams down. It was either a midrange jumper for Paul or wide open shots off of kicks or swings.

Milwaukee has the best defensive guard in the NBA. And Holiday has cut off the head of the snake. He has shut of Paul's drive game without needing help, meaning no open looks for those 3 Suns. So when the ball does come to them, they can't do anything except move it or try to create for themselves with predictable results.

I love Bridges. He's going to be great. But he needs time to develop his offense game. Crowder is the definition of not good enough. He can't do anything unless he has a wide open look. And he's very overrated defensively. Williams benched him most of that 2nd half and then when they brought him back, he had that terrible and-1 foul on Middleton. Ayton is great but most bigs depend on their guards.

So everything has fallen on Booker's shoulders to create offense for the Suns in the half court. And he's done very well. He almost won game 4 by himself. It's unfair to blame him for their losses because the Suns aren't giving him any help. Against a great defensive team. If anything, he gets more shine from me for accepting the burden and fighting like a warrior. That's why I said after game 4, the Suns don't have enough offense against this great Bucks defense. Stats guys might say that all 5 of the Suns starters scored in double figures but most of that was bunched in the 1st half when they came out on fire. When it came to the critical 4th, they did nothing.

Contrast that with the Bucks who have 3 guys who can get their own offense with 1 of them unstoppable attacking from the midpost. There is no scheme to shut them off especially with the good sets that they run.

In the twilight of his star-crossed career, at the brink of a ship that is obviously slipping away, it would only make sense that the hero, Chris Paul would have to face an impossible task. To match up against the best defensive guard in the league, against a great defensive team with so much length, on the road, down 3-2, he has 2 games to prove that he is a true NBA legend. It really would be legendary.

[soxperry]

i have a futures bet on the Bucks, wagered before the playoffs started (so 9.5x payout). Not sure if this is the time to hedge that bet (to bet on PHX). And as a basketball fan, i just want Chris Paul to win a ring so not sure what to do if i should hedge now or wait for Game 7

Well, according to the hedge calculator, you can hedge right now at +300 on the Suns and guarantee yourself about 72% of the total possible win. That's pretty damn good. I would probably do that especially if you bet big money.

[turbo2k]

What a great game 5. Very well played, very good execution. Let me just make this simple point so that the criticism is fair.

Phoenix has 3 guys in their starting lineup who can't create their own shot-- Ayton, Bridges and Crowder. All 3 of them need Paul to create offense for them. This wasn't a problem in previous series because none of the previous opponents could do anything to stop Paul. So they could just get to their spots and shoot wide open looks when Paul broke teams down. It was either a midrange jumper for Paul or wide open shots off of kicks or swings.

Milwaukee has the best defensive guard in the NBA. And Holiday has cut off the head of the snake. He has shut of Paul's drive game without needing help, meaning no open looks for those 3 Suns. So when the ball does come to them, they can't do anything except move it or try to create for themselves with predictable results.

I love Bridges. He's going to be great. But he needs time to develop his offense game. Crowder is the definition of not good enough. He can't do anything unless he has a wide open look. And he's very overrated defensively. Williams benched him most of that 2nd half and then when they brought him back, he had that terrible and-1 foul on Middleton. Ayton is great but most bigs depend on their guards.

So everything has fallen on Booker's shoulders to create offense for the Suns in the half court. And he's done very well. He almost won game 4 by himself. It's unfair to blame him for their losses because the Suns aren't giving him any help. Against a great defensive team. If anything, he gets more shine from me for accepting the burden and fighting like a warrior. That's why I said after game 4, the Suns don't have enough offense against this great Bucks defense. Stats guys might say that all 5 of the Suns starters scored in double figures but most of that was bunched in the 1st half when they came out on fire. When it came to the critical 4th, they did nothing.

Contrast that with the Bucks who have 3 guys who can get their own offense with 1 of them unstoppable attacking from the midpost. There is no scheme to shut them off especially with the good sets that they run.

In the twilight of his star-crossed career, at the brink of a ship that is obviously slipping away, it would only make sense that the hero, Chris Paul would have to face an impossible task. To match up against the best defensive guard in the league, against a great defensive team with so much length, on the road, down 3-2, he has 2 games to prove that he is a true NBA legend. It really would be legendary.

Very good analysis. Leaving Jrue off Booker has allowed him to go off, but that means CP3 can't create any offense for the other guys, so you are left with a lot of Booker ISO.