Wednesday night was supposed to be pivotal in the race to the NBA Championship and the Milwaukee Bucks made the most of it.
They evened up the series on their home court, denying the Phoenix Suns a chance to take a comfortable lead in the series.
At 2-2, the trophy could land anywhere. But let's look at how the Bucks made it happen!
After his poor outing in the last game, Devin Booker made the first basket of the game with a pullup jumper. In fact, the Suns went on an 8-0 run that made Mike Budenholzer take an early timeout for the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Everyone could tell how crucial this game was when the Bucks had legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Roberston, and John McGloklin cheering for them. These are the three members of the 1971 NBA championship for Bucks.
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The first quarter was sloppy for both teams. Milwaukee shot just 35% from the field, but they took advantage of the Suns' turnovers to score. But the highlight of this quarter was Giannis' putback dunk. Yet it ended with a 23-20 score in favour of the Suns.
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The Bucks cut down the lead to just one point thanks to Giannis' spin moves along with Brook Lopez going for an easy bucket with 7 minutes left on the clock and the two teams were now tied at 33 points.
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Despite being right-handed, Booker dropped some creative buckers from his left hand. He kept it rolling in the second quarter, finishing with a game-high 20 points. I mean, just look at that creative fadeaway!
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While Booker was doing his part for the Suns, Khris Middleton was doing his for the Bucks. He also poured in 16 points in the second quarter and the first half ended tied at 52.
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The Suns had taken another 5 point lead with around 8 minutes left in the third. Chris Paul was doing more damage than good because he had more turnovers than points at this time. Of course, Giannis continued to go full throttle.
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The story of the third was still Devin Booker. He went 7-for-7 from the field pushing his total to 38 points. Thanks to Booker, Phoenix took an 82-76 lead with 12 minutes left on the clock.
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The fourth quarter was all about trying to keep the grab the ball as much a possible. So, when Giannis pulled off a pretty smooth steal with 8 minutes to go and then slammed a dunk, the crowd couldn't help but cheer hard!
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Both the teams' defense buckled down in crunch time as Bobby Portis and DeAndre Ayton got in some crucial blocks for their respective teams.
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Giannis was right to trust him with the ball instead of making a shot on his own. He passed the ball to Pat Connaughton who canned a big triple that put the Bucks one bucket behind the Suns at 95-97.
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With less than 2 minutes to go, Giannis prevented an alley-oop from Booker to Ayton that changed the whole course of the game. The Bucks were finally leading by 2 points, after trailing almost throughout,
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The Suns fell flat, literally, as Chris Paul turned the ball over in the most crucial minutes when the game was at 101-99. His slip helped the Bucks get to take a 103-99 lead thanks to Middleton's clutch shot. After that it was a game of free throws, the Bucks cashed in 6 from the line to finish the game at 109-103.
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