By: Chris Jordan
The Milwaukee Bucks won game 3 of the NBA finals in high fashion and get themselves back in this series.
The Bucks won 120-100. The Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo put up another 40 point performance in back-to-back games.
Antetokounmpo joins LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal to have back-to-back 40 point games in the finals.
LeBron James did it in the 2016 finals, and Shaquille O’Neal did it in the 20o0 finals.
Both players would go on to win the NBA title in their historic playoff runs that year.
Antetokounmpo started the first quarter looking like he had some problems with his nagging hyperextended knee injury he stuffed in the Eastern Conference Finals in game 4.
Antetokounmpo finished the game with 41 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal.
Giannis has been Superman for the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s been playing his absolute best in these NBA finals thus far.
Antetokounmpo did get some help tonight from Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday.
Holiday shot 57% from the field while shooting 5-for-10 from beyond the arc.
The talk heading into the game was how much help would Giannis get because in game 2 Giannis didn’t get much help from Middleton or Holiday.
Middleton is a multiple-time all-star and Holiday has been selected to an all-star game throughout his NBA career.
Middleton scored 18 points and Holiday added 21 points. If the Bucks win game 4 on Wednesday their gonna need another good performance from Middleton and Holiday.
Despite, the loss in game 3, the Suns are still up in the series and they have the opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this series.
If the Suns want to win game 4 they will have to get a better performance from their best player Devin Booker.
Booker had his worst game of the postseason by far. Booker finished the game with 10 points while shooting 3 of 14 from the field.
Head Coach of the Phoenix Suns Monty Willams decided to bench Booker for the entire four quarter.
The question heading into game 4 will be Devin Booker and how will he respond. [pickup_prop id=”9529″]
The Bucks were the more aggressive team and the Suns just couldn’t match their aggression.
The Suns were outrebounded, 47-36, and horrendously shot 9-for-31 from 3. The Suns will not win game 4 if they repeat the performance they had in game 3.
Chris Paul had another good game even in a losing effort. Paul scored 19 points and 9 assists.
If the Suns want to win a championship Paul must continue playing this way for his team. Paul has been playing like someone who wants to win his first NBA championship.
Jae Crowder scored 18 points and shot 6-for-7 from deep,6 rebounds, 1 assist.
Cameron Johnson had a good time coming off the bench. Johnson scored 14 points while also having a monster dunk on PJ Tucker.
The Suns, lost this game in the second quarter because they only scored 17 points while the Bucks scored 35 points. The Bucks finished the quarter on a 20-6 run and never looked back.
The Bucks also did something that hasn’t been done since 1974. They won their first NBA finals game.
Can the Bucks put up another great performance?
The Bucks know what’s at stake going into game 4. They know if they lose game 4 they will put themselves in a 3-1 deficit.
Antetokounmpo will need to have another great performance in game 4. So far in these NBA finals, the Greek Freak has been sensational.
Antetokounmpo scored 24 points in the paint, tied for the most in the NBA finals over the past 25 years. He would also make 12-of-15 from the free-throw line.
The Bucks and Suns will play game 4 on Wednesday night.
Will the Bucks even the series up 2-2 or will the Suns take a commanding 3-1 going back to Phoenix?