NBA 2021 Finals: Phoenix Suns off to a strong start, take 1-0 lead against the Milwaukee Bucks

Chris Paul made sure his long-awaited NBA Finals debut would be one to remember, scoring 32 points and nine assist to beat the Bucks 118-105.

Chris Paul led the Suns with a team high 32 points on his finals debut, Image credit: Twitter/NBA
By Amruth Kalidas | Jul 7, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The Phoenix Suns are off to a strong start in their quest for a Championship. Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-105 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The two sides were close for most of the first half before Phoenix pushed the lead as high as 20 in the third quarter. A furious Bucks comeback cut it back down to seven in the fourth quarter, but the Suns were resilient. They took Milwaukee’s punch and countered with several of their own, ultimately winning the game to take a precious 1-0 lead.

Chris Paul led the way with yet another stellar postseason performance. He scored 32 points to lead the Suns. Devin Booker wasn’t far behind with 27 of his own. Meanwhile, Deandre Ayton’s 22-point, 19-rebound Final’s debut and 20 combined bench points for Cameron Payne and Cameron Johnson made it a complete team win for the Suns.

On the other side, Khris Middleton stood up for the Bucks with 29 points. But a still-recovering Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t quite match his typical MVP production. He scored 20 to go along with 17 rebounds in the loss, but played only 35 minutes and couldn’t be as aggressive in the paint as he usually is with 11 field goal attempts in the game. 

BUCKS NEED GIANNIS 100% FIT

Physically, Giannis looked mostly like Giannis in Game 1 of the Finals. He overpowered Deandre Ayton, but that is just 1/10 of what Giannis can do. If you squinted, you’d see the outline of the two-time MVP. Even in defeat, he had the biggest highlight of the night with an incredible second-quarter chase-down block:

He hyperextended his knee seven days ago. So, he had to play a bit more cautiously than he normally would. His 11 field goal attempts were the fewest of the postseason for him aside from Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks, when he got hurt in the first place. Giannis played 35 minutes and 21 seconds in total, the fewest he’s played in a non-blowout this postseason aside from Game 1 of the Brooklyn Nets series. The Bucks were justifiably cautious with their best player. The Finals are a marathon, not a sprint.

The Bucks can’t beat the Suns with 80 percent of Giannis. They need him at his MVP best to take on an opponent this good.

SQUAD DEPTH WILL BE KEY FOR THE FINALS

Cameron Payne’s speed is a genuine change of pace for the Suns off the bench, and Cameron Johnson remains the postseason’s hottest shooter. When the Bucks go to the bench, they do so merely to rest their best players. When Phoenix goes to the bench, it can bring genuinely valuable players into the game that would be starting on other teams.

That’s the primary difference between these teams right now. The Suns have so much playoff-caliber talent that Jae Crowder can shoot 0 for 8 from the field and the Suns can still win by double digits. The Bucks get almost all of their scoring from four players. When even one of them doesn’t show up (as Jrue Holiday didn’t in a 4 of 14 night), their offense tumbles. 

The Suns have more ways of generating offense, so the Bucks need to take advantage of the ways available to them if they hope to keep up here. 

Game 2 will be played on Thursday. A win in that game would take the Suns within two wins of the title, while a Milwaukee win would even up the series and give the Bucks home-court advantage.





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