2021 NBA Finals: Bucks win title 4-2 over Suns

[40Year Pack Fan]

7 hours ago, RuskieTitan said:

It's so obvious that the NBA is trying to do everything in their power to make this 2-2 back to Phoenix.

Absolutely...Giannis stepping over the inbounds line....This and calling a foul on the Chris Paul trap are signals the NBA wants this to go seven games...

[TheRealMcCoy]

 

[seminoles1]

2 hours ago, Pastor Dillon said:

Giannis can average whatever he wants but they can’t give him the ball late in the game. 
 

besides I’m not saying Giannis isn’t better than Middleton, I’m saying Middleton is the guy who just closed out the game and he gets zero credit. It’s all Giannis Giannis Giannis and without Middleton they don’t get past the hawks. 

And that means he's not the main reason they're in this series?

You're creating a storyline out of thin air. Middleton gets plenty of credit when he has good games. 

Yeah, getting past the Hawks without Young was such a difficult task.

[Blackstar12]

3 hours ago, Kip Smithers said:

I know I just said this series will go 7 but I don’t know how you can predict how this series is gonna go. Too many inconsistent players in this series, which makes for somewhat an entertaining series. The only player you can guarantee consistency from is Giannis. As well as Jrue (though on the other side of the scale). 

This is true though I don’t get why so many Bucks fans are getting cocky saying Bucks in 6. When neither team can win on the road and Suns have 2/3 at home. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Blackstar12

[Kip Smithers]

58 minutes ago, seminoles1 said:

And that means he's not the main reason they're in this series?

You're creating a storyline out of thin air. Middleton gets plenty of credit when he has good games. 

Yeah, getting past the Hawks without Young was such a difficult task.

It’s crazy. Middleton is a streaky player. Plagued by inconsistency. Yet people seem to wanna label him something. He’ll probably shoot 6/19 next game and it’ll get brushed under the carpet. His home and road splits in the playoffs are pretty crazy.

[J-ALL-DAY]

Hell of a game last night. I expected the Suns to win a tight one and it seemed like it was heading that way but man the Suns had way too many turnovers and allowed too many offensive rebounds. The rebound battle is going to be won by the Bucks, but it has to be at least within five, not by 8 or 11 like the last few games. 17 offensive rebounds is just inexcusable. I did like what they did defensively overall, but letting the Bucks get easy buckets in transition off turnovers or long misses can't just happen. Bucks destroyed them in transition points and it's those points along with 2nd chance points that are keeping them in the game. The Suns half court offense is much better and they get better quality looks, so if they can keep their turnovers to under 10, they will be fine.

I know now most will think the Bucks are in control of the series but I don't think so. Still a very tight, evenly matched series. If game 5 comes down to the wire, I like the Suns chances as they were great in close games all season long. Middleton was amazing and I know people use his closing ability to kill Giannis, but damn he's had some MONSTER closes all postseason. So happy for him as I always felt he got more blame than he should have due to the fact he had to go head to head against opposing superstars in the clutch because you can't give Giannis the ball in those situations. Well, this postseason he's going head to head and WINNING those battles. Damn near all his shots are contested mid range pull ups or fade aways and he just knocks them down like he's Kobe or MJ lol.

LOVE the Bucks going to more Middleton/Giannis pick and rolls and they will need to run a little more with Holiday as well going forward. Impossible to stop since right when Giannis rolls, the Suns don't have another rim protector on the court and he just gets a wide open dunk/lay up or passes it to a wide open shooter when the defense collapses. Suns threw some more doubles at him and that worked well. Just have to be smart when they throw those doubles at him. The Bucks are still shooting doodoo from down town so even when they get 17 offensive rebounds, win the fast break battle 15-0 and win the FT battle by 8, they still barely win the game and the offense still looks to be a struggle. But at this point it is what it is and they will need to continue to win these types of games. Continue being super active defensively and force turnovers and get out on the break and own the offensive glass. Putting Ayton in these pick and rolls gets him out of the paint or gets Middleton/Holiday a wide open FT line jumper. Once he's out of the paint, you can kill them on the boards. Bucks guards are crashing the boards hard and that's giving the Suns big issues. Jrue/Pat/PJ combined for 9 offensive rebounds which is pretty insane. Suns as a team only had five total. Not sure what the Suns can do to adjust there?

CP3 man, what a pathetic performance. This man has had some bad luck but finally gets luck on his end with the the previous three opponents hit with the injury bug and then the team gets out to a 2-0 lead and he does THIS??? Are you kidding me??? He's really struggling against the Bucks small ball line up and as they all can defend him minus maybe Pat. Even Portis was defending the switches very well. He's going to have to start figuring out a way to be effective against line ups with Giannis at the 5. Booker was freaking amazing though, what a bounce back performance from him. Sure he got away with a late call but overall I thought the 50/50 calls were heavily in favor of the Bucks. One adjustment I'd like the Suns to make when Giannis is at the 5 is to actually get initial switches with him on CP3/Booker and then try to keep him out of the paint and crash the boards like the Hawks did successfully in stretches. You take Giannis out of the paint and then you have pretty much Tucker trying to hold off the rest of the Suns. I know they are trying to set their defense and aren't crashing the offensive glass, but they need to do just that when Giannis is at the 5. Bucks have no reason to get away from that line up if the Suns aren't beating them up inside. 

Do I think these are the two best teams in the league? Not necessarily, but I'm pretty damn happy with this matchup. Damn good finals! 

[J-ALL-DAY]

4 minutes ago, Kip Smithers said:

It’s crazy. Middleton is a streaky player. Plagued by inconsistency. Yet people seem to wanna label him something. He’ll probably shoot 6/19 next game and it’ll get brushed under the carpet. His home and road splits in the playoffs are pretty crazy.

Your hate for Middleton is something else man, you have to let it go lol.

I mean generally speaking, closers and bucket getters get their fair share of love...and rightfully so. No way in hell is Middleton better than Giannis, but in these close games, he has more impact than Giannis and the results a lot of the times come down to his ability to close or not. He's also just been a completely different player at home compared to the road and that shouldn't happen of a player of his caliber. Not like he is a role player, he is a legit all star and those types of players don't have big differences in production home vs road. 

[Mox]

Few thoughts:

CP3 continues to prove he's one the worst big game/crunch time superstars of all time.

Middleton is unbelievably streaky. When he's on, he's unstoppable, when he's off he's a chucker.

Holiday needs to put the ball in the basket. He's been so inefficient this postseason it's insane.

Top 4 block I've ever seen by Giannis (along with Bron on Iggy, Amare on Duncan, and Bam on Tatum).

Booker not fouling out (twice) is a disgrace, refs should be fined, and Booker needs more criticism for being that high level of an idiot.

Go Bucks.

[titans0021]

2 hours ago, Blackstar12 said:

This is true though I don’t get why so many Bucks fans are getting cocky saying Bucks in 6. When neither team can win on the road and Suns have 2/3 at home. 

For what it’s worth, Bucks in 6 is essentially a meme that dates back to a Brandon Jennings quote from seven or eight years ago.

[11sanchez11]

Cam Johnson has a 70 TS%, Ayton has a 69. The two highest playoff career TS% (min 100 FGAs). 

[J-ALL-DAY]

Dude has just made so many big shots all postseason. Much respect! 

15 minutes ago, 11sanchez11 said:

Cam Johnson has a 70 TS%, Ayton has a 69. The two highest playoff career TS% (min 100 FGAs). 

Send them to the HOF!!!!

[J-ALL-DAY]

28 minutes ago, titans0021 said:

For what it’s worth, Bucks in 6 is essentially a meme that dates back to a Brandon Jennings quote from seven or eight years ago.

Ah, I didn't know that. Still remember that quote but was hilarious to see the reactions of fans as if he was supposed to say the Heat are going to sweep us!!! Lol. 

[R T]

5 hours ago, 40Year Pack Fan said:

Absolutely...Giannis stepping over the inbounds line....This and calling a foul on the Chris Paul trap are signals the NBA wants this to go seven games...

No

[R T]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:21 AM, Pugger said:

The Bucks need someone who isn't as hot and cold as Middleton is.  The Suns are the best team in the league right now.  I doubt any team in the East could beat them in a best of 7.

Hmm

[R T]

On 7/9/2021 at 4:59 PM, beekay414 said:

We'll be back here in a week with the series tied.

This