PHOENIX, US: The Phoenix Suns have never been closer to an NBA title.
Devin Booker scored 31 points, Chris Paul had 23 and the Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-108 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 series lead.
The Suns surged ahead late in the first half, withstood Giannis Antetokounmpo’s all-around effort to bring the Bucks back, and walked off winners again as fans swung orange rally towels all around them.
Antetokounmpo had 42 points and 12 rebounds in his second game back after missing two games because of a hyperextended left knee.
The Suns never even had a lead in the NBA Finals until their 118-105 victory in Game 1. They dropped the first two games in both 1976 and 1993, their only other appearances, and didn’t win more than two games in either series.
They’ve already got two this time and will go after a third Sunday in Milwaukee, which will host the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974.
Booker made seven 3-pointers and the Suns went 20 for 40 behind the arc. Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and Paul finished with eight assists.
Jrue Holiday played more aggressively but didn’t shoot a whole lot better than in Game 1, scoring 17 points but hitting only 7 for 21. Khris Middleton was 5 for 16, forcing Antetokounmpo to carry an even heavier load on his sore left leg.
It adds up to the Bucks having to overcome a 2-0 deficit for the second time this postseason. They did it against the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but had some help when first James Harden and then Kyrie Irving were injured.
Now they are facing a Suns team loaded with weapons all over the lineup, and showed off all of them in the prettiest play of this series.
They whipped the ball all around the perimeter for the final basket of the first half. It went from Paul to Booker to Jae Crowder to Bridges, back to Crowder to Paul, then over to Crowder and once again Bridge. He then finally fed it inside to Deandre Ayton, who scored while being fouled with 14.9 seconds left for a 56-45 lead at the break.
The Bucks could only dream of having that many guys involved. Antetokounmpo’s 15 field goals were more than twice as many as any other Milwaukee player.
Halfway there: Suns beat Bucks for 2-0 lead in NBA Finals
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Halfway there: Suns beat Bucks for 2-0 lead in NBA Finals
‘Animals in a zoo’: Swiatek backs Gauff call for more privacy
- Coco Gauff upset when cameras caught her smashing her racquet in the depths of the stadium on Tuesday after she was beaten in the Australian Open quarter-finals
MELBOURNE: World number two Iga Swiatek on Wednesday backed Coco Gauff’s call for more privacy during tournaments, saying players sometimes feel “like animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop.”
Third seed Gauff was upset when cameras caught her smashing her racquet in the depths of the stadium on Tuesday after she was beaten in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The American was trying to find somewhere private to let out her frustrations, rather than doing so on court in front of fans including children.
“I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn’t broadcast it, but obviously they did,” said Gauff.
“So maybe some conversations can be had because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room.”
Swiatek, who was also bundled out of the quarter-finals in Melbourne by Elena Rybakina, said back-stage cameras could be too intrusive.
“The question is, are we tennis players, or are we animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop, you know?” she said.
“Okay, that was exaggerating obviously, but it would be nice to have some privacy. It would be nice also to, I don’t know, have your own process and not always be observed.
“It would be nice to have some space where you can do that without the whole world watching.”
Swiatek was caught up in her own off-court drama earlier in the week when she was denied access to an area in Melbourne Park because she was not wearing her accreditation.
It was recorded on camera and the clip did the rounds on social media.
“I don’t think it should be like that because we’re tennis players,” she said.
“We’re meant to be watched on the court and in the press. That’s our job. It’s not our job to be a meme when you forget your accreditation.
“Oh, it’s funny, yeah, for sure. People have something to talk about, but for us I don’t think it’s necessary.”
Swiatek’s straight-sets loss to Rybakina denied her a career Grand Slam of all four majors.
She has won four French Opens, the US Open and Wimbledon, but a title at Melbourne Park remains elusive.
