Written by Curtis Lo
The NBA playoffs, as always, have been an absolute rollercoaster to this point. A slew of untimely injuries to stars such as Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving has undoubtedly left us all with a sour taste in our mouths, but on a positive note, there hasn’t been a championship race this wide open in years. The fact that this year is the first since 2006 that one of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Stephen Curry won’t be in the NBA Finals is indicative of how a handful of teams have dominated the NBA landscape for the past decade. Of the two teams left vying for the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy, the Milwaukee Bucks haven’t won a championship since 1971, while the Phoenix Suns have never been crowned NBA champions. Not only that, but these two teams have been inextricably linked all year. Current Suns forward Torrey Craig began the season as a Buck, before being traded to the Suns for cash considerations. Both Monty Williams and Mike Budenholzer spent time with the San Antonio Spurs organisation and learnt from the legendary Gregg Popovich. The most interesting connection/’what-if’ of all is that the Bucks reportedly had interest in trading for Chris Paul before they eventually acquired Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans in the offseason. What a turn of events.
With Phoenix taking a 1-0 series lead after a clinical performance in Game 1, let’s look at a few key factors and matchups that will prove critical for the rest of the series.
The Point God and The Clamp God
The battle between Chris Paul and Jrue Holiday pits the ‘Point God’ against the best defensive guard in the NBA (if you don’t believe me, let Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant persuade you). In Game 1, Paul undoubtedly had the edge over his counterpart, finishing the game with 32 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists on 12 of 16 shooting from the field, including 4 triples. Early on, Paul didn’t aggressively look for his own shot, and the Bucks tried to take advantage of this by getting into the passing lanes to limit his playmaking. But after finishing the first quarter with zero points, Paul adjusted his approach and began to take the shots that the Bucks defence was offering him. Paul kept the Suns offence poised whenever he was on the floor, and much like he has done throughout the season, he had a calming influence on the rest of Phoenix’s young role players. He couldn’t have looked more at home in his first NBA Finals game, as he joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan as the only players to score 31+ points in the Finals, while being over the age of 36.
Meanwhile, Holiday (10 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists on 4 of 14 FG attempts) struggled to impose his will on the offensive end, often looking quite passive on that side of the floor. While Jrue found his teammates in good positions en route to 9 assists (especially Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez when they sealed their defenders deep in the paint) it never felt like he had control of the game in the same way Paul did. While comparing Holiday to one of the greatest controllers of pace the NBA has ever seen may feel unfair, the difference in Game 1 was stark. If the Bucks are to have any hope of winning this series, they’re going to need a few ‘Point God’ performances from Jrue Holiday.
Book and Brook
Devin Booker came out with a sense of aggression and purpose in his first Finals game and once again reminded us of the importance of the midrange in the playoffs. Time and time again, we have seen the likes of Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard go to their midrange arsenal when defences tighten up in the playoffs and in Game 1, Devin Booker and Chris Paul took advantage of those pockets of space. Not only that, Booker was able to get to the free throw line with regularity, finishing with a perfect 10 of 10 from the stripe. With the Bucks opting to switch when defending pick and rolls, Brook Lopez found himself out on the perimeter attempting to contain Phoenix’s dynamic duo on multiple occasions. Lopez did a decent job of staying in front and using his length to contest, but in this current NBA where offence rules and the quality of difficult shot-making is at an all-time high, Booker (27 points) and CP3 were able to make the Bucks pay. However, Lopez presents a unique threat offensively, as he gives the Bucks the option of playing with tremendous size, while providing offensive rebounding and floor spacing with his 3-point shooting. We saw this in Game 1 as Lopez finished with 17 points on an efficient 7 for 14 from the field, including 3 made triples. If the Bucks continue to switch on the perimeter, this matchup between Booker, CP3 and Brook Lopez will be an interesting chess match to keep an eye on, as Phoenix’s star backcourt will continue to hunt out the big man if given the opportunity.
Khris Middleton came to play in Game 1
Is Khris Middleton consistent? In the regular season, undoubtedly. But in the playoffs, the version of Khris Middleton you get really differs game to game. In Game 1, he really came to play, finishing with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, including 5 triples. For long stretches, it felt like the only source of Bucks’ offence came from Middleton. He made a plethora of timely threes and tough buckets to bring the Bucks within touching distance in the third quarter after Phoenix stretched the lead to 20 points. However, as well as he played, Middleton didn’t shoot a single free throw in Game 1 and turned the ball over 5 times, including a few critical turnovers in the fourth quarter. He will need to do a better job of drawing fouls and taking care of the ball in Game 2 if he wants to back up this good performance with a great one and walk out of Phoenix with the series tied.
My Dinner with Deandre
Game 1 was an absolute slugfest between the Greek Freak and the Bahamian Beast. The brutal knee hyperextension Antetokounmpo suffered in the Eastern Conference Finals didn’t seem to bother him too much, as he worked his way to a solid 20 points and 17 rebounds. Meanwhile, Deandre Ayton was unfazed in his first Finals game, finishing with a monstrous 22 points and 19 rebounds on 8 of 10 shooting. Ayton has battled his fair share of dominant big men throughout this playoff run, and it appears his duels against (pre-injury) Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic have prepared him for his matchup with Giannis. He swallowed almost every rebound that fell into his vicinity, finished lobs and guarded Giannis with physicality and toughness in the first half. But Giannis, even when he’s working his way back from an injury, is still a force of nature. Ayton is a supremely gifted athlete, but there were still moments when Giannis breezed by him along the baseline, bullied him out of the way with a quick bump and finished over the top with ease. The two-time MVP will continue to work his way back to full fitness and without a doubt, will only get better as the series progresses. But if Game 1 and the rest of the playoffs to this point is any indication, Deandre Ayton is ready for the challenge.
The Year of the Fellas
Not enough can be said about Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Cam Payne. The trio of youngsters have been a joy to watch all season long and have all taken another step forward under the bright playoff lights. Bridges had a well-rounded game, doing a decent job of defending Middleton and scoring 14 points in the process. Payne (10 points, 2 threes) played aggressively, pushing the pace and once again was the offensive spark plug the Suns needed off the bench, balancing the non-CP3 minutes well. Most impressive of all was Cam Johnson (10 points, 2 steals, 2 threes), who has well and truly shed the perception that he is just a ‘catch and shoot’ specialist. Johnson was alert on the defensive end, as he swarmed from the weak side to double team unsuspecting Bucks, and even spent some possessions guarding Giannis, and did so admirably. With the injury to Donte DiVincenzo, the Bucks are lacking some depth. Bobby Portis has shown flashes, Pat Connaughton is serviceable, and Bryn Forbes is a nice shooter to have off the bench, but none of Milwaukee’s bench options were quite able to match the Suns’ role players in Game 1.
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