In his debut in the NBA Finals at age 36, Chris Paul led the Phoenix Suns 118-105 victory this Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks with 32 points, with which they took a 1-0 lead in the series. .
The Bucks were able to recover their star Giannis Antetokounmpo (20 points), a last-minute doubt due to his knee injury, but were overwhelmed by the recital of the three Suns figures, Chris Paul (32 points and 9 assists), Devin Booker (27 and 6) and DeAndre Ayton (22 points and 19 rebounds).
Phoenix, who has not competed in a Finals since 1993, will try to earn a second home court victory Thursday in his bid for his first NBA ring.
Chris Paul, one of the best players in history who had not played in the Finals, jumped onto the court determined to seize the moment he had been waiting for 16 seasons. The experience and coolness of the point guard were decisive in the start of a tie in which only one of its participants, Jae Crowder (Suns), had previously played a Finals match.
The former Clippers and Rockets base became the third player at least 36 years old to reach 30 points in a Finals game, after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan.
“I tried to be aggressive and my guys got going,” Paul said. He added: “It’s confidence. We’ve played like this all season. We just have to stay focused.”
Until this performance of the point guard, only the legendary Michael Jordan (1991) had debuted in a Finals with at least 30 points and 9 assists.
“It’s CP3, what can I say. He’s a guy that when I was little I saw him knowing he was going to be in the Hall of Fame. He deserves a ring and now I have a chance to help him get it“Suns starting forward Mikal Bridges (14 points) said.
For Milwaukee, who also did not fight for a championship since 1974, guard Khris Middleton was the leading scorer with 29 points while Antetokounmpo had 20 points and 17 rebounds in 35 minutes of play.
“I felt good (…) The medical team gave me authorization, I think my knee was stable and I did not feel pain,” said the Greek, noting that his rehabilitation work for his hyperextension of the left knee was “24 hours up to date”.
“When (the injury) happened, I thought it was over for a year (…) I’m just happy that, two games later, I’m back,” he stressed.
Antetokounmpo claimed not to have reviewed in pictures the moment of his injury, which occurred in an attempt to block Clint Capela in the fourth game of the previous series against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bucks waited until half an hour before the game to confirm that Antetokounmpo was ready to step onto the court. “We have to give him credit for the work he did to play the first game. It is really impressive,” his coach, Mike Budenholzer, acknowledged.
The Greek power forward wanted to show he was ready for his first Finals since the Bucks’ initial attack, in which he attempted a dunk.
The two-time NBA MVP (Most Valuable Player) displayed his expansive style of play both on defense, putting a fierce stopper on Bridges before the break, as well as running the counterattack and attacking the rim every chance he got.
At the end of the first quarter, Antetokounmpo was the Bucks’ top scorer with 8 points in 8 minutes on the court.
In these Contrasting Styles Finals, the Bucks presented a large quintet to take advantage of their superiority in the paint as the Suns try to impose their increased pace of play and their fearsome outside shot.
The talented Devin Booker, leader of the Suns in their first playoffs, did not shake his legs in his debut in the Finals and had already added 16 points at halftime hammering with his long distance shot.
The second half started with a scare for Chris Paul, who sprained his left ankle when he landed on Brook Lopez’s foot after scoring a triple.
The point guard was able to stay in the game to command a great sprint by the Suns in the third quarter to take a 20-point lead (90-70).
As he did at the close of the series against the Clippers, Chris Paul burned in the third quarter with 16 points.
Milwaukee’s reputed defense could not find an answer to the base’s repertoire, which wreaked havoc in the heads up with his scoreboard or in the pick and roll with center DeAndre Ayton.
Antetokounmpo and Middleton spearheaded one last attempt by the Bucks to get into the game, until they were seven points behind (101-94) but Booker stopped the streak in its tracks with a spectacular triple.
Far from his usual performances, Antetokounmpo stayed on track until the end of the game despite the fact that the Phoenix trio of figures did not grant any opportunity for the comeback.
Source: AFP
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