Phoenix Suns at Milwaukee Bucks
How quickly things can change is the story of the NBA finals for the Phoenix Suns. After winning the first 2 games of this series and looking towards their first NBA championship, the Suns have now fallen into a 2-3 series hole and they now must save their season on the road in Milwaukee, which won't be an easy task. However, the form of Devin Booker will give the team hope of a major upset. Booker has hit 40 points and 42 points in back to back defeats. He has basically put the 3 ball away and has been deadly accurate in field goal range. Meanwhile, this will be a huge game for Chris Paul as he looks to rebound from a shocker at this venue in Game 4 as he scored just 10 points and committed 5 turnovers. He bounced back in Game 5 with 21 points and 11 assists, so look for Paul to keep the Suns season alive. Their major issue in the Game 5 defeat was their 2nd quarter performance. After getting out to a 37-21 lead in the first quarter, it all went downhill from there as the Bucks outscored them 43-24 in the 2nd quarter alone and that proved too hard to overcome.
The Bucks will be doing everything they can to end a 40 year championship drought and it would be even sweeter to win the series on their home court. There's also no doubt that a potential Game 7 in Phoenix will be a tough challenge. What gives the Bucks confidence is a 3 game winning streak and they're undefeated in this series on their home court. Giannis has been excellent in the finals and he'll no doubt get MVP if they win. However, Middleton and Holiday have stepped up recently to give the Bucks a big three presence. In the Game 5 victory, Holiday had his best performance of the finals as he finished with 27 points and 13 assists. He also showed great character after a poor performance in Game 4. Middleton has played 40+ minutes 7 straight games and is coming off 29 & 40 points in his last 2 games. Another key factor has been the bench where Connaughton and Portis have been providing excellent support and have generally outscored the Suns bench.
This series deserves a Game 7 but the Milwaukee Bucks have been simply too good on their home court in this season's playoffs. Overall, the Bucks have covered in 6 of their last 7 home games and their average winning margin on their home court in this series is 13 points. The major problem for the Suns is despite Devin Booker scoring 40+ points in back to back games, they've lost both games. So unless Booker can get over the 50 point mark and Chris Paul scores 30+ pts, the Bucks have them covered through the likes of Giannis, Holiday and Middleton.
Stadium Record
The Bucks are 17-1 in their last 18 home games. Phoenix holds a 2-6 record at this venue in their last 8 games.
Head to Head Record
Milwaukee has won the last 3 games and hold a 3-2 series advantage.
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