Giannis Dominates Again, Bucks Take Game 3 To Get Back In Series! 7.11.21
It’s a Sunday night and we finally have NBA basketball back, with Game 3 of the NBA Finals with the series shifting to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
(2) Phoenix Suns vs (3) Milwaukee Bucks
Phoenix Suns (2-1)
The Suns looked bad? Never knew this was possible. But it is. Devin Booker was awful, Deandre Ayton dealt with foul trouble and Chris Paul just didn’t seem to have his hand on the pulse of the game as much as he has in prior games this postseason. Giannis dominated them in the pick and rolls and on the offensive boards. The Suns were turning the ball over, not shooting well and they got bullied on the offensive glass. It just wasn’t a good game all around for the Suns who just looked off.
The first half was up and down for the Suns. It started off well thanks to excellent play from Deandre Ayton down low. Booker was still struggling, but the Suns started off hot and led early on. But that 2nd quarter was ugly. Over the last 9 minutes of the 2nd quarter, the Bucks went on a 30-9 run. The Suns were turning the ball over, getting bullied in the paint, missing shots, ugly all-around.
They couldn’t stop Giannis in those pick and rolls and Khris Middleton got things going a bit, which made things worse. The Suns were losing the paint battle, the points in the paint battle, the turnover battle, and the points off turnovers battle. That attributed them to being down by 15 at the half, allowing 60 points.
Deandre Ayton picked up his 4th foul early in the 3rd and they elected to sub in Cam Johnson, going ultra small against the Bucks. It worked offensively. Cam Johnson had that monster dunk on PJ Tucker and the Suns started the quarter shooting 9/10 from the field. Defensively, things worked for a little bit with that zone defense. With 5:22 left, the lead was just 4. Things went downhill from there.
The Suns scored just 6 points after that point and the Bucks scored 24. Giannis dominated, drawing fouls and bullying the smaller Bucks because there was no Ayton on the floor. Jrue Holiday hit 3 3’s. A Pat Connaughton 3 capped off the run, giving the Bucks the 22-point lead entering the 4th. The zone defense struggled because they didn’t have bigger bodies for Giannis and they were getting bullied on the offensive boards.
The Suns didn’t make it a game after that as this was embarrassing. Devin Booker struggled again, as his shots aren’t falling. He was 3/14, 1/7 from 3. He hasn’t looked right in the last two games, certainly not to start the games. The Suns need his scoring because with the way Giannis is playing, they need something to counteract that.
Chris Paul was good, 19 points and 9 assists, but as soon as he went out in the 3rd quarter when the Suns had cut into the lead, the Bucks took control. Deandre Ayton was great but he struggled with foul trouble and hardly played in that 2nd half. Jae Crowder hit 6 3’s, but Mikal Bridges only had 4 points. Cam Johnson was great again, but without that scoring punch from Booker, the Suns struggled.
9/31 shooting from 3 and only 16 free throws compared to 26 for the Bucks. The offense isn’t something I’m worried about, the defense is. Giannis in the post and as the roller in pick and rolls has killed them. His 2nd straight game with 40+ points and 10+ rebounds. I don’t know if they can stop him, but they can’t let Holiday and Middleton going if that’s the case.
They could always double Giannis, push him away from the basket. But that’s so much harder to do when he just isn’t dribbling up top. I honestly can’t tell you what they do to slow down Giannis. They can’t allow 13 offensive rebounds, the Bucks dominated them in 2nd chance points. The Bucks getting 17 points off turnovers also didn’t help.
If I’m the Suns, I need these things for Game 4. Better rebounding, likely meaning Ayton can’t get into foul trouble with the Suns limited size. They have to put more pressure on Middleton and Holiday. Those guys got a lot of easy shots tonight because they helped so hard on Giannis getting to the rim. The Suns have to hit more 3’s or get more free throws, one of the two. Less turnovers and get Devin Booker going. All doable, but the Suns can’t panic. Stay composed, you have two days to try and fix things before Game 4. Let’s see what the Suns can do.
Milwaukee Bucks (1-2)
Usually Mike Budenholzer is an idiot and I point it out. I will also point it out when he’s being good at this whole coaching thing, because he was in this game. He made Giannis so potent with the spots that he put him in, he used Middleton more as a ball-handler and he was much better. The rebounding was great, the defense was solid, forced a lot of turnovers on a Suns team that doesn’t turn the ball over much. The Bucks seems to have more energy at home and they looked like the much better team in this series as they have gotten themselves back in this series.
I love the adjustment they made with Giannis. While he was excellent in Game 2, in this game they just simply said you can’t guard him. Giannis didn’t even think of driving down the lane and running into multiple defenders. He found Khris Middleton or Jrue Holiday and ran pick and rolls. A lot of them. He also got in the post more in the 2nd half when the Suns got small. He also got offensive rebounds when the Suns got small.
Giannis had 14 makes from inside of 5 feet in this game. The Suns as a team had 13. That’s Shaq level dominance. Speaking of Shaq, Giannis joins the Big Diesel and Lebron as the only players in the NBA Finals with back-to-back games with 40+ points and 10+ rebounds.
Giannis had 41 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists on 61% shooting. He was also 13/17 from the free throw line. He has been nothing short of incredible in these finals. But he finally got help.
Khris Middleton had the ball in his hands more and had 18-7-6. Jrue Holiday hit 5 3-pointers and finished with 21-5-9. Brook Lopez was solid but he only played 21 minutes. They went to Bobby Portis more and he had 11 points and 8 rebounds. He brought great energy off the bench.
They also went to Pat Connaughton and he was very good. I have always liked Pat more than most, mainly because he was with the Blazers. But he played some solid defense against CP-3 at times and he had 8 points, including that big 3-pointer to end the 3rd quarter.
The Bucks dominated this game in all aspects. They shot 39% from 3 and made 5 more 3’s. They hit 9 more free throws. 13 offensive rebounds, 54-40 paint advantage, 16-6 fastbreak points advantage, 17-10 points off turnovers advantage. The Bucks were very good in this game and now they have to do that again.
They have to use Giannis/Middleton/Holiday the same exact way. I liked what I saw from Portis, can’t be hesitant to take out Lopez if needed. PJ Tucker needs to stick to Devin Booker like glue and not give him free throws. Get Ayton in foul trouble, because the Suns cannot play small against Giannis. They just can’t.
This is what the Bucks can be if they play smart. It’s a big if, but they can be a dominating team. Now they need to win Game 4 to even this series and shift momentum back their way.
What Are Your Thoughts From Game 3? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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