Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks gear up for pivotal Game 5

PHOENIX — Unlike the majority of the league’s fanbase, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo resisted the urge to rewatch and savor his classic block on Deandre Ayton in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

“Considering victory often leads you to the extreme,” said Antetokounmpo. “I can’t articulate the play, but it’s now a part of the past. Discussing the past is essentially your ego speaking. I value the present moment. It was a wonderful moment. But we need to proceed.”

The participants in this year’s NBA Finals share comparable perspectives as they head into Saturday’s Game 5 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. This is probably due to both teams’ awareness of the historical importance of Game 5 and the implications it holds.

When The Finals are at a 2-2 tie, the team that wins Game 5 proceeds to win the series 72.4% of the time, as indicated by a 21-8 record. Furthermore, teams that gain a 3-2 lead at any stage in the series emerge victorious in the series 80.9% of the time, with a 38-9 record.

Let’s put aside the memorable performances in Game 4 by both Devin Booker, who scored 42 points, and Khris Middleton, who scored 40 points. This was only the fourth instance in Finals history where opposing players each scored 40 or more points in the same game.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer stated, “At this point, you don’t simply sit back and enjoy any film or game. We have viewed numerous clips repeatedly, analysing how we can improve. We ask ourselves if we’re executing correctly, whether it’s in the last two or five minutes, or throughout the entire game. We view it through a critical lens, figuring out what we need to prepare for and what needs to be done.”

The Bucks are hoping to replicate their performances from their last two games, which allowed them to level the series after initially trailing 2-0.

In Game 4, Phoenix was ahead by nine points with only 11:42 remaining. However, Middleton soon dominated the game with a 14-point surge towards the end. The victory of 109-103 was capped off by Antetokounmpo’s impressive block shot, providing a dramatic end to the game.

Booker bounced back from a poor performance in Game 3, where he only managed to score 10 points from 3 of 14 shots, to score a game-high of 42 points, albeit in a loss.

Despite shooting 11.1% lower than Phoenix, Milwaukee managed to win the game by taking 19 extra shots, leading by 12 in offensive rebounds, committing 12 less turnovers, and scoring 19 additional points off mistakes. The last time a team won The Finals with such a lower shooting percentage was the Boston Celtics in 1984, making it a 37-year record.

This anomaly is merely one element of the “hard” that Suns coach Monty Williams talks about, when discussing the effort his team requires to secure two more victories and claim their first championship.

Booker relayed the coach’s words, “Everything you desire lies beyond difficulty.” He continued, “We’re aware that achieving our team goals will be anything but easy. Remove any notion of it being simple from your mind, seize the moment, and realize this is the reality. It will be challenging, but we’ll need to surmount the hurdles.”

One of the latest obstacles for the Suns has been unusual turnovers from point guard Chris Paul.

In addition to scoring his lowest in Game 4 with 10 points since the first round, Paul also committed the most turnovers in the game with five. For comparison, he had 24 turnovers in the first 15 playoff games, but in his last three games, he made 15 turnovers.

Williams referred to Paul’s struggles as “a blip on the screen.”

In the first two games of The Finals, Paul amassed 55 points, but his performance has dipped in the last two games, with just 29 points. He’s also having difficulty with his 3-point shots. In a three-game period from Phoenix’s final game against the Clippers in the Western Conference finals to the first two games of the NBA Finals, Paul made 14 out of 20 3-point attempts. However, he’s only made 1 out of 6 since then.

Paul stated, “In this league, longevity requires a short memory. You can’t obsess over either victories or defeats, regardless of the magnitude. Whether you win by 20 or lose by 20, you always start from scratch, with a score of 0-0. You then proceed from that point. This has consistently been the mentality.”

Phoenix keeps demonstrating its effectiveness, securing wins in eight out of its 10 postseason home games.

However, the Suns are hosting a Milwaukee team that seems to be growing in confidence after recovering from two 2-0 series deficits in this postseason.

The Bucks have recorded fewer than 10 turnovers in three successive games, a season-best streak. They’ve reduced their turnovers from 13 per game in the first three rounds of the postseason to nine in The Finals. The Bucks have also outperformed the Suns in second-chance points, scoring 39-9 in the last two games, compared to a 26-26 tie in the first two matches.

In Game 4, the Bucks dominated the Suns, building a 25-point advantage over the last two games by outscoring them 15-0 in fast break points.

Prior to the start of the playoffs, Milwaukee had never experienced more than one 40-point individual game in the same postseason. Now, the Bucks have had four such performances; three by Antetokounmpo and one by Middleton. Middleton has been shooting at 42% from the 3-point range during the team’s victories, and at 21% during losses.

Middleton stated that he has prepared for Game 5 with the same concentration and intention that he has maintained throughout this run. He emphasized the importance of staying engaged, playing correctly, competing, and giving their maximum effort. He added, “That’s it.”

Mikal Bridges of the Suns referred to Game 5 as “a must-win game.”

Bridges emphasized, “Our next game is our most important game. So, we need to go out there, play Suns basketball for a full 48 minutes and secure the win. It won’t be a cakewalk. It’s unrealistic to expect to sweep a team or win in just five games. We’re anticipating a challenging series and we’re ready for it.”

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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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